My Heart Tells No Tales
by Sailorjj07
Summary: The gang all go to Gadoria for an awards ceremony and meet a guy that claims he's bethrothed to Chloe! Now what is the notsoaverage girl knight supposed to do? Besides fainting, of course. Read to find out! Review plz!
1. Chapter 1

My Heart Tells No Tales

By: Sailorjj07

1. Chapter 1

A/n: Just got to Chapter 7 of Tales of Legendia, the very last part. I love the game, and it's taken me forever to beat it cause spare time just sucks. Lol, anywho, while I'm in the process of beating the game, I'm gonna write a fic. Cause ya know, that's the best thing to do.

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

Dark black hair, cascading over cream colored shoulders met with royal blue and red. The dress was sleeveless with a plunging neckline, that was still somewhat modest. The red was a single strip down the middle of the dress and the bottom flared out with plenty of extra skirts. The dress was elegant and along the line that the red followed was a split, parting the dress from the knee down. The shoes were dark blue and flat; the girl was already tall enough.

Chloe stared at herself in the mirror. Again. It was hard to see that the person staring back at her was herself...Gosh, how had she gotten here again?

Shaking her head, Chloe lifted her hand to her face. There was make-up there, something she didn't even like. They had straightened her hair too, even though Chloe had almost cut someone when they made her take her bun down.

Today was such a bad day. All the pomp and circumstance over their protection of the world was ridiculous. They were even trying to give her and her parents their title back. Chloe didn't even want it anymore...a title wasn't going to bring her mom and dad back to life.

"C, it's not that bad. You know you like it!" Norma strolled up to Chloe and put her hands on the taller girl's shoulders. She smiled at both faces in the mirror, her own included. Norma's dress was long and yellow, almost dragging the floor. It was strapless and she wore long white gloves with it, as well as a silver and yellow necklace.

"Norma..."

"C! Cheer up!"

"But..."

"I know he's here. And I know you haven't seen him in a long time. I'm tellin' ya, you shoulda made your move before we came here. Now Shirl's prolly got him wrapped around her like-."

"Norma, please. I know, ok? I know..." Chloe looked slightly depressed at her reflection, then forced a smile on her face. She gently moved Norma out of her way, and then smiled at her friend. "Can we get this over with now?"

"Why the long face? It'll be fine!" Norma took Chloe's hand and led her out the door, giggling as the older girl got used to walking in her dress. C needed to learn to be sophisticated like her. (Overstatement of the year alert!)

Chloe just sighed as Norma whisked her down the hall. This was getting crazy. "Norma, maybe-?"

"Oh no you're not. You're going in there and everyone is gonna stare at you, and your gonna like it! Or I won't show you any mercy!"

"Norma!"

"Seriously C, get a grip. Everything will be ok, I'm sure of it. And maybe, just maybe...he'll see you and be surprised."

Chloe glanced at Norma's face as they walked along, noticing something new there, "Norma, that almost sounded wistful."

"What? What's that mean anyway?"

"Norma, don't try to cover it up." Chloe giggled, watching as they got towards the main doors.

"Cover it up? What are you talking about? Your crazy."

"No, you're crazy, Norma. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Shh, they're opening the doors for us." Norma said, as two guards pushed the white double doors open. Norma giggled again and grinned wide, while Chloe put a small smile on her face.

She wanted to make this as painless as possible.

As the doors spread wide, an entire ballroom opened in front of the two girls, and together they walked down the stairs arm in arm. The room had become silent, the only thing that moved was the two of them and the music gave them an entrance that left nothing to be desired. The two girls smiled at the familiar faces in the room, ignoring the ones they didn't know, and wondering how long the stairs actually were.

"These are a lot of stairs," Norma whispered between her smile. Chloe giggled and felt her foot touch the last step and soon there was thunderous applause that left the girls slightly shocked.

Was this all because they stopped Shirley from activating the Wings of Light and starting the Cataclysm?

To Chloe, this was still crazy.

"Ooh Chloe! You really should wear that more often." The first person to speak to the girls was Grune, who wore a mint green dress with an amazingly high side split. Her entire left leg was in view, and Chloe couldn't understand how she could do it. She simply smiled at Grune, before Norma hugged her tightly.

"G-Girl! You look awesome! And sexy too. What's up?"

"The sky?"

"Good answer! Anyways, has this party been any good?"

"Umm, maybe. A little. It's nothing like our picnic."

"Bubbles, you look niace." Moses actually had on clothes today, a black suit with a maroon tie. It was weird to actually see Moses IN clothes, but Chloe watched as Norma's face got bright and happy.

_'Found him.'_

"Thanks, country bumpkin. I see you actually put a shirt on tonight."

"Bubbles, why can't you ever jus take something I say niacely? Damn it."

"Awww, don't be mad, Red. It's ok." Norma grinned at the dark skinned, red haired male, practically dancing around him. "To make it up to you, I'll let you have a dance. Come on!"

Jay rolled his eyes and bowed low before Chloe, "Hey. Are those two idiots serious?"

"Well, yes, I guess so."

"Hm. They're so dumb." Jay looked almost mad and Chloe stared at him. What was his deal? Jay almost seemed...jealous.

_'Whoa'._

"So where's Raynard and everyone else?" Chloe scanned the crowd for more faces that she recognized and saw Elsa. However, she was talking to a young blond haired gentlemen, probably a Ferines. That's what he looked like anyway.

"Will and Harriet are over there," Jay pointed in the direction of the orchestra, where Harriet and her father stood to the side, both taping their feet and nodding their heads.

_'Best not to bother them then.'_

That only left...

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, because without missing a beat, Chloe spotted a pure white head and BAM! she ran into him.

"Ooh! Coolidge! Sorry."

"Man, sorry Chloe! I didn't even-...Wow." Senel's bright green eyes scanned over the raven haired girl frame. He took in her dress, her hair, her...make-up?

_'Chloe is beautiful. Really, really beautiful.' _Senel thought, looking over Chloe again.

"Coolidge?"

"H-hey." Senel realized he was almost staring and stopped immediately.

_'Damn, Chloe is pretty.' _Senel allowed himself another glance at the girl before focusing on her face again. What was he doing?

"How are you? Where's Shirley?"

"Oh, she's...around." Senel didn't know why he was slowly losing his mind from Chloe talking to him. She was his best friend, what the hell was wrong with him? Shaking his head, Senel tried to keep up the conversation, "Anyways, I'm fine. How are you?"

"Hm, besides slightly nervous? I'm ok." Chloe laughed a little bit.

"What are you nervous for? These people don't know you or anything. They just want to up lift someone and it just happens to be us."

Chloe stood thoughtful for a second, "That isn't an answer I expected from you."

"Why not?"

"Well, you always like to say how you don't deserve things and all that other stuff, even though you're the most deserving out of all of us..."

"Are you kidding? You deserve as much, if not more, than I do."

"How about you two just agree that neither of you deserve anything and stop being bothersome?" Jay smirked at the two, and watched them both blink at him for a moment.

His family members were slow as ever, it seemed.

"What?" Both said together, and all they got out of Jay was a laugh as he walked away from the two of them.

"Oh Chloe! You look so pretty today! Doesn't she look pretty, Senel?" Shirley walked up to them, smiling brightly. She was wearing a bright pink dress that made her look extra sweet and innocent. Chloe smiled back and wondered how Shirley and Senel were actually doing.

Until Shirley wrapped her arm around Senel's arm...

_'Well, there's the answer to that question, huh?' _Chloe shook her head and watched as Senel spoke to her.

"Y-Yeah, she does Shirley. Chloe looks very pretty, actually." Senel was looking at her as he said that. Chloe felt her cheeks warming because she could tell...he meant it.

"Um, ahem, thank you Senel. You too, Shirley." Chloe looked down at her hands as she said this, glancing up to look them slowly. Shirley gave a happy giggle at Chloe's face and Senel just watched her.

_'Since when had Chloe gotten so beautiful and cute? That shy thing is just adorable...' _Senel found himself thinking and he had a hard time censoring his thoughts.

Senel shook his head slightly, and watched as Chloe had walked away. Shirley was talking to him about something, but he had missed what Chloe had said. Where was she going this quickly? He had barely talked to her.

"Senel? Senel, did you hear me?"

"I'm sorry, Shirley, what'd you say?" Senel asked, finally looking at the pouting girl in front of him.

"I said, I want to dance."

"Ok. Sure." Senel smiled at her and let Shirley take his hand to lead him out to the ballroom floor. She stopped when they got near Norma and Moses, and soon Senel was twirling Shirley around like a princess.

The only problem was...he wasn't paying attention to the princess in front of him. His eyes were scanning for the Cinderella among them.

So where had Chloe gone?

**With Chloe**

Chloe had gone to the stand by the wall, is where she was. She watched as Elsa chatted up the boy standing with her, wondering what on earth was that funny.

"So you actually came. I was hoping to catch your beautiful face before this night was over."

Chloe blinked, who was this guy? He was a man most definitely, probably in his twenties, and he. was. gorgeous. The man in front of Chloe was so cute, it should've been against the law. He had long dark brown hair tied back in a loose ponytail that stopped at the top of his back and the most shocking gray eyes. He was built too, not over the top, but Chloe could tell he was a fighter. His tuxedo was a simple black, but it seemed to suit him so well, and fit him so nicely...Chloe resisted the urge to sigh.

"Um..Hi?" Chloe managed to get out, after her voice failed her one time.

The man in front of her smiled and bowed low, reaching out for her hand, "May I have this dance, Lady Valens?"

"How do you know my name?"

"If you dance with me, I'll tell you." Those gray eyes lit up in amusement and Chloe nodded numbly. She was still trying to get over how drop-dead gorgeous this man was. He smiled wider and helped her out of her chair and then lead her to the floor. Chloe heard a few sighs as she walked by with this man, and watched the girls fawning about him in the corner.

Who was he?

Chloe realized that they had stopped walking and were on the dance floor when he fit his arm around her waist. Chloe wondered if she had honestly shivered from the man touching her or from the fact that she felt like this was a dream. She looked up at the man that was currently spinning her around the floor like she was a pro dancer, and found the questions burning in her mind.

He looked down at her face and gave her a warm smile that made his gray eyes bright, "Don't you remember me? We used to play together all the time, Chloe."

Chloe almost gaped at him. What was he talking about? Chloe knew she would remember someone this cute in her lifetime. She'd never forget a face like his.

"You still don't remember? Chloe...if you dream with all it takes-" The man began to say and he looked down at Chloe waiting for her to finish the phrase.

Chloe knew that poem, "And see all the love the world makes."

"You'll know that anything can tip the scales..." The man kept going, knowing Chloe knew the rest.

"But no matter what, the heart tells no tales...Alec?"

"So now you know me." Alec grinned wide, and chuckled lightly at Chloe. She looked so surprised and shocked.

Was this really the boy she played with when she was little? Chloe found herself blushing...Alec had called her beautiful.

"I meant what I said too. You have grown into a lovely woman, Chloe."

"Hmmm, well, thank you, Alec. I would like to say...You don't look that bad yourself." Chloe gave an embarrassed blush and looked away from Alec's handsome face. This was really Alec. They had been inseparable when she was about ten, he was twelve at the time.

"Do you know how hard I looked for you in Gadoria? It was impossible to find you."

"Well, that'd be true, since I was on the Legacy."

"I'd ask why, but I already know why." Alec gave Chloe a solemn look before dipping her low and brining her back up. "So I won't. But my, how lovely you have become. I have a hard time getting over it, Chloe."

"What are you talking about? I still look the same." Chloe pouted slightly, and Alec laughed at her as he spun her again.

"Oh no. You look nothing like the violent ten year old I knew."

"I wasn't violent!" Chloe pouted again, and hit Alec on the back with the hand she had around his neck. Alec laughed this time, and Chloe blushed even more. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't so handsome.

"That was proof, Ms. Chloe. So tell me, where is your husband? Surely you're married by now?"

"Idiot. No, I'm not."

"Oh really?" Alec lifted an eyebrow and then a smirk crossed his face. "You know what that means, right? ...We're still betrothed."

"We're what?! Since when? That was a long time ago, Alec, that doesn't-! Mmph!"

Alec shut Chloe up by kissing her, right there in the middle of the ballroom, with half of the kingdoms of Gadoria and the Legacy present. Chloe felt like crying...

Why was Alec so damn impulsive?

When he released her Chloe could feel so many eyes on her...So very many eyes, and it felt so...embarrassing.

Until Alec spoke.

"I, Alec Verwan, hereby announce my betrothal to the heroine, Chloe Valens! This betrothal was made by our deceased parents and thus we honor their wishes by joining their legacies! Please, I ask that you celebrate with me on this happiest of days!"

The crowd cheered widely, since all had gone silent when Alec had first kissed Chloe. Chloe felt ready to die, and caught eyes with her adopted family before she found herself swooning. Norma, Grune, and Shirley looked happy, Moses, Jay, and Will looked shocked, and Senel...Chloe couldn't read the look on his face. Before Chloe knew it, everything was dark, and Chloe felt like she was about to pass out.

What was she going to do now?

End Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

My Heart Tells No Tales

By: Sailorjj07

2. Chapter 2

A/n: The plot thickens! Thanks to all who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I do not own or Chloe and Senny would've had a scene in the game.

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"Who the hell is he?!"

"Senny, hush! You're gonna wake her up!"

"Gawsh, if I'd have known Chloe had a man friend, I'd have brought 'im to her."

"Red, shut up!"

"Now, all of you buffoons be quiet before Will comes in here. You don't want that."

"JJ's got a point."

"Sure do, brotha!"

"Since when were we your brothers?"

"Red, you sound like the BBs, haha."

Chloe groaned as the voices around her got quieter. They apparently were enjoying having a conversation about her while she laid there; she knew as soon as she couldn't respond to the voices. But why did Senel sound so pissed off?

"Oh C! You're awake!" Norma cried, hugging the girl in the bed tightly. Chloe coughed as Norma squeezed her and gasped for breath.

"N-Norma!!" Senel cried, watching as Chloe's eyes began to bulge. Norma heard his cry and let go quickly, wanting to see the panicked look on his face.

_'He's not totally committed to Shirl...Bad, bad Senny.'_

"Oh. Sorry C!" Norma replied, letting the flushed girl go. Norma sat back down in her chair beside Moses, ignoring the odd look he was giving her.

_'She's got that glint in her ahyes (eyes). Mah Bubbles, what are ya up to?'_ Moses looked at Norma out of the corner of his eye for a little longer before shaking his head and turning back to Chloe.

"Is she awake? Is my fiancée alright? Why are those guys allowed to be in there but I'm not?! Let me in!"

Everyone turned as they heard Alec's loud voice on the other side of the door. They heard Will and Shirley answer him calmly, and they continued to listen as he gave a loud sigh before mumbling something under his breath. Chloe's face flushed red in embarrassment at the sound of her new title, and Norma watched as Senel's face flushed in something else.

_'He's ticked. Whoaaaaaaa Senny.'_

Moses noticed the display too, as well as Jay, but neither said anything. The three all caught each other's eyes as well, before turning to the two.

"Wow, C, you sure can pick 'em. How'd you meet him anyways? And why didn't you tell any of us you were engaged?"

"Because that was when I was ten, before my parents were dead. They only said that because they thought we were cute together. I was ten!!" Chloe cried, trying to calm her totally frazzled nerves. Who wouldn't be though? She just became engaged to her childhood playmate!

"I'm sure he'll understand if you tell him no." Senel interjected, crossing his arms with an obvious pout. Chloe glanced at him, what was his problem? Shrugging, Chloe opened her mouth to speak when the door burst open, ushering Will, Shirley, Grune, and Alec into the fairly large guest room.

"Chloe! I was so worried about you!" Alec managed to politely make his way through the chairs and around the bed to hug Chloe tightly. The raven haired girl felt her face warming considerably and then when Alec gave her a quick kiss on her mouth, she wanted to die.

Why did he do that in front of her family?! Ugh, she wanted to kill him...almost. He was too gorgeous to murder.

"Y-you shouldn't have, Alec. I'm fine. I was just...surprised. That's all."

Alec gave a joyous laugh and hugged Chloe again, as if her friends weren't sitting around them, "I'm glad then. I was so worried about you, and then your friend Senel was so angry he attacked me and-."

"Wait, what? Coolidge, what did you do?" Chloe looked around Alec to glance at Senel, who was looking down angrily at his hands. Chloe watched as he got up with his arms crossed and strode out of the room, not answering anyone. He even slammed the door on the way out.

"Oh my." Grune commented, watching the door as if it could answer her questions.

"Ummm..." Was all Norma could get out before Shirley took over.

"I'll go check on him. Be right back everyone!" Shirley was all smiles as she left the room and Jay just watched her.

_'She has to know. There's no way she doesn't know. She's not stupid.'_

"Jay? Can you tell me what happened?" Chloe turned to him, figuring she'd get a straight answer from him.

"Oh Senel just attacked Alec because he thought he had done something to you. Besides kissing you in front of every noble in Gadoria." Jay added that last bit slyly, watching Chloe divert her eyes from his for a second. She glanced at Alec, who had been nodding in agreement as Jay told the story. "You passed out, remember? Senel came charging with fists raised. It was quite a thing to see, I must say."

"Hmm, I dunno, Sen seemed kinda mad before Chloe passed out to meh (me)," Moses commented, thoughtfully. Norma nudged him and gave him a look, causing the red haired male to shut up quickly. Chloe looked curiously between the two before Alec hugged her again, making her blush with embarrassment all over again.

"Alec, why are you trying to marry Chloe at this time?" Will asked, not one to hide the truth from anyone. These people in this room were his friends and family; he wanted no secrets with the man trying to weasel his way in.

"Well, she and I have been friends for such a long time. We were betrothed when we were younger, didn't she tell you that?" At the silence to his question, Alec turned to Chloe,"You didn't tell him that?"

Chloe blushed and looked away from everyone,"I was ten! No, I didn't tell them that. Why would I?"

"You were ashamed of our engagement?"

"I ran away to Gadoria, losing my family's title forever. I was ashamed of you? Hardly. Why would I uphold an agreement made by the dead?" Chloe knew she had struck a point in Alec as soon as her last words were spoken. He loved family as much as she did, and she knew, that was his logic too.

"You weren't dead! I knew you weren't! That's why I upheld the agreement, because the girl I loved was still alive." Alec declared passionately, holding Chloe close to him and burring his face in her hair. If he hadn't been so cute, Chloe knew she would've cut him open, but he was just too cute.

Chloe sighed, this was going to be hard.

"Alec, you can't marry me just because you liked me so much when we were kids. I liked you a lot then too, but that was nearly ten years ago. Longer than that even. You can't possibly love me any, you barely know me."

Alec shook his head, placing his hand on Chloe's face,"Just looking at you, I know I still love you. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and it has. So very fond, that I cannot wait any longer to make you my bride. Chloe, if you want to think I'm marrying you just because of the agreement between our parents, you are wrong. I love you, Chloe. No one else, but you, no matter what type of person you've become over these years."

The silence was deafening. It could be cut with a butter knife, seriously.

_'Is he serious?!'_ Norma was almost taken aback, but she was interested too. This man had no shame, he would let the world know. Norma felt like he would probably kiss Chloe breathless in front of all of them and not even care.

_'He has got to be joking. I don't like this guy already.'_ Jay sighed and looked away from the scene, wishing he could just throw up. Mushy weirdo.

"Alec...I can't marry you. You don't know me. And I don't know you either."

"So let's get to know each other! I can come back to the Legacy with you and stay in an entirely different house. We can live there and go on dates, we could get to know each other, Chloe!" Alec hoped, almost prayed, that Chloe would let him be near her. That was all he wanted right now, to be near her. To be able to see her everyday.

"I don't know...I have duties, people to take care of. I'm part of the Task Force now."

"So I'll join too! We can work together!"

"I don't know..."

"Let him come, C! He'll be helpful!" Norma interjected, trying not to laugh at the look on Chloe's face. The only word that could fit the look on Chloe's face was horrified.

Norma turned to Will, "He's going to join the Task Force if he comes. I'm sure he'll be loads of help. You don't have a problem with help, do you, Old Man?"

Will smacked Norma on the back of her head, then crossed his arms, "That is Chloe's decision, I refuse to take part in that, Norma."

"Chloe, please let me come to the Legacy. I won't annoy you, I promise." Alec gave Chloe his most adorable begging face, and the girl caved.

Damn his cuteness!

"Fine. You can come to the Legacy with us."

"DAMN IT!" Along with an extremely loud outburst, the entire group heard a loud groan from the hallway. Norma could swear on everything that it was Senel.

End Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

My Heart Tells No Tales

By: Sailorjj07

3. Chapter 3

A/n: Moving right along...Read and review my lovely reviewers! Thanks! Lots of drama will occur in this chapter, I think...Laughs evilly

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

Water.

There was water everywhere.

This was the part that Chloe hated the most. Why, oh why did Alec have to have so much money that he owned his own yacht? And why, oh why, did his damn yacht have two damn pools while it sailed over the damn ocean?!

Chloe grimaced as she felt another wave hit the boat.

This sucked.

Really, really badly.

"C, are you ok?" Norma asked, watching her friend sit in the white lawn chair with her knees drawn up to her chin. Chloe pulled her big beach hat lower over her face and nodded, trying not to look at the water all around.

"I'm fine."

Chloe drew herself into a tighter ball, whimpering slightly. This was soo not good. Norma shook her head and got up, waving at Moses from the other side of the pool. "Hey Red! She says she's ok!"

"Good! Lil Bro, are you awrite?" Moses asked, cupping his mouth over his hand so he would be louder. The only answer he got was a splash of water in his face. He smirked at Jay and cannonballed into the pool after him, laughing when he pulled the younger boy under the water by his ankle.

Norma's white and orange polka dotted bikini was what stopped him in mid laugh though. She was only dipping her toes in at the edge of the pool and both males stopped to watch the girl pretend to be delicate. However, the truth was, only one of them was staring at Norma. Jay was smirking and slowly moving closer to the side of the pool - BAM! - Norma got pushed into the pool so hard she landed right beside Moses and a huge splash covered them both from sight for a few moments.

"Hahahahahaha!!" Shirley laughed cutely, pointing at Norma, who was fuming for a second before she marched right up to the Ferines and grabbed her by the back of her swimsuit. Shirley had on a two piece too, a halter swim top in pink with white frills. Her bottom was a cute little skirt that was lined in white frills too. However, the whole ensemble was soaked as Norma dunked the girl under the water.

"Now who's laughing, Shirl?" Norma said, laughing maniacally before Moses took her under the water. The three began to play and dunk each other, while Jay swam to the side with Elsa.

Sitting in her chair, Chloe watched all of this with her head lowered, trying her best not to wish she could be out there too. Water just hated Chloe, it was a known fact, but she still wished she could go play with everyone else. The female knight heaved a sigh and put her head back down, trying not to think about her situation.

"Chloe?"

Chloe knew that voice. She looked up to see white swimming trunks in front of her face. Blushing slightly, her eyes traveled up the body in front of her, coming across the pale broad chest before stopping on Senel's face. His white hair looked even whiter in the sun, Chloe decided, and his eyes sparkled like the trees in the spring time. Senel always did make her think of land...and safety...

Shaking her head, Chloe pushed her hat back a little so Senel could see her face,"Hi Coolidge. Is something wrong?"

Senel shook his head and sit down in the lounge chair directly next to her, leaning back. He could still remember the feel of Chloe's arms around him when she hugged him that one time. Seeing her bare arms almost made him wonder...

He turned to look at Shirley playing in the water with the others before turning back to look at Chloe out of the corner of his eye. Her swimsuit was the most grown up, a blue one piece with silver circles all over it. There was a large circle in the middle of the swimsuit, highlighting the toned muscles of her stomach, and on the sides of her swimsuit were small silver circles, resting on her hips. It also showcased her slim, but powerful legs. Senel once again turned his head to look at Shirley since it wasn't right for him to look at another girl this way.

But he found his eyes drawing him back to Chloe and even the big straw beach hat on her head with the matching blue ribbon was sexy. He sighed, trying to take his thoughts off of his closest female best friend; it wouldn't help either of them.

"Do you trust him?" He blurted out, and almost immediately Senel was mad all over again.

Alec had made a big show about being able to go to the Legacy with Chloe, even going as far as naming his ship "the Love". Chloe had gotten all shy about it too, which aggravated Senel even more. What was so special about Alec that Chloe couldn't be herself around him? If she didn't like him, all she had to do was say so, but every time he kissed her, or hugged her, or held her hand, she didn't say a word.

And not only did that hurt Senel's feelings, but it pissed him off.

He didn't know why. He honestly didn't even care why. All he knew was that Alec pissed him off and any man that pissed him off right off the bat was not a good guy in his book.

Chloe looked at the water, not knowing where the question was coming from but answering anyway, "Yes, I do."

"Why? You don't even know him!"

Chloe looked at Senel curiously, was he getting angry with her? "Coolidge, I knew him when I was younger. He kept me safe from harm. As his friend and debtor, I owe him enough to allow him to see me."

"Debtor? He didn't save you when you were almost killed, did he?"

"No, but he did keep me from falling off of the castle balcony, and the kitchen counter, and he kept me from falling into that very disgusting well."

"So?"

"So, therefore I owe him something. And he is a friend..."

"That didn't look for you hard enough in Gadoria."

"I did not wish to be found either." Chloe glanced at Senel who sat pouting about Alec a while longer. Finally he sighed, and uncrossed his arms.

"I just...I'm just looking out for you, ok Chloe? You're one of my best friends, and if he hurts you, I'll kill him."

_'One of his best friends, huh? ...Maybe I'm better off marrying Alec then...'_

Chloe sighed and looked back out at the pool, watching as Elsa and Norma began to have a wrestling match on Jay and Moses' shoulders. Senel watched Chloe looking at the group and mistook it for longing.

"You wanna learn how to swim, Chloe?"

"What?!" Chloe gaped at Senel and tried to stop the pounding in her heart. Did he just use her name and swim in the same sentence? Chloe looked at her best friend like he had grown another head.

"I said, do you want to-."

"I know what you said, Coolidge." Chloe narrowed her eyes slightly. He was trying to be funny with his comments, "If this is just a joke about me, then it isn't funny, Coolidge."

"No, not a joke at all. I'm seriously asking you if you want to learn how to swim." Senel watched the emotions play across Chloe's face with amusement. She was seriously afraid of the water.

"Y-You'd teach me, Coolidge?"

"Well, duh. I was a Marine."

"You make a very strong point."

"Of course I do. Now, come on, we can learn in the other pool, away from everyone else so you aren't embarrassed." Senel looked around him briefly, noticing everyone's location. The girls were still locked in a battle this time with Alec and Shirley added in. Everyone was playing around, so no one would even notice them gone. Senel stood up and held his hand out for Chloe to take.

She did and glanced back at the others as she and Senel rounded the corner, climbing up the stairs,"W-Will I drown?"

"Chloe, I'm right here. Do you think I would let you drown?" Senel stopped walking to turn around and look the scared girl in the eye. Chloe stopped walking too, looking up at the green jewels her best friend used to look at her with.

"No." Chloe said, her heart skipping a beat as Senel continued to watch her expressions. He nodded when he saw what he liked and began walking again.

"Ok then. It's not even that big of a pool. You could probably swim the whole thing in about three kicks." Senel said as they reached the top. He was right, of course. The pool was very small, about four feet deep at the most.

"O-Ok." Chloe watched as Senel got into the pool with ease and then she felt her knees getting weak. She couldn't do this; what the hell was she thinking?

"Chloe calm down." Senel said, knowing exactly what she was thinking. He was surprised, any other time Chloe was the strongest one of them, but all of a sudden, she was afraid. Senel reached out for her hand and lead Chloe to standing in the three feet deep section of the smaller pool.

"S-Senel."

Senel froze. Had Chloe really used his name? The way she said it, with fear in her eyes about what he was asking her to do...It was so cute. It was adorable how afraid Chloe appeared to be too. She was so ready to get out of the water, she had used his actual name. "Chloe, it's ok. You're fine."

Chloe relaxed a little bit, but she wasn't letting her guard down."O-ok."

"Right. So in order for you to learn, you have to see what it feels like to have water around you. What I want you to do is lay flat on my hands and I'll lower you into the water until you're floating on your own."

"What?! I can't do that, Senel, I-!" Chloe blinked as Senel's fingers pressed against her lips in mid-sentence. Senel shook his head and gave a faint smile at Chloe's fear. It was so cute.

"Yes you can." He laid his hands out on the surface of the water, palms up. "My hands will be right there the whole time, promise."

"O-Ok," she repeated for about the second time. Slowly, Chloe let Senel's hands guide her body into the water, tickling her stomach at the softness of his hands.

_'Despite all the fighting he does, his hands are as soft as I thought they were...' _Chloe shivered slightly at her own thoughts, before realizing that Senel was saying something to her.

"What?"

"I said, you see? It's not that bad."

"N-no."

Senel then began to instruct Chloe on the way's of swimming. Taking one hand from her slightly submerged body (and scaring the hell out of her), Senel showed her how to cup her hands and break the water, how to kick her legs and how to part the water so that she was controlling it.

Without either knowing it, thirty minutes passed quickly, and soon after that, an hour.

**An Hour Later**

Chloe had never been so sore in her life. She never knew that swimming could actually be a training exercise and when Senel told her this, Chloe was almost excited.

"I think my first order of business when we get to the Legacy is requiring at least two hours worth of swim training for the Task Force. How can we call ourselves protectors if most of the men don't train in the water? I bet I can get Shirley to help us with that too." Senel said, following Chloe down the staircase they had ascended only two hours before.

Chloe nodded, slightly ignoring the mention of Shirley's name, but agreeing with him, "I think that's a good idea, Coolidge."

Senel stopped in mid-step, and turned to look up at Chloe, who watched him curiously from the step above. "You're calling me Coolidge again."

"What? Don't I always call you Coolidge?"

"You weren't just a minute ago."

Chloe blushed faintly and diverted her eyes from Senel on that comment. She was deathly afraid, what did he expect? Plus, it was the only time she was allowed to slip-up, because she loved the way his name sounded. She loved the syllables that formed his name, loved the way it sounded when she spoke it; Chloe was actually afraid that if she was allowed the chance, she would say his name too much.

"You'll only say my name when you're afraid?"

Chloe froze. Senel's tone was too sad, like he almost cared about if she said his name or not. A blush rose on Chloe's face as Senel's green eyes searched her's for an answer.

"Hey 'Lo! There you are!" Alec came around the corner, all smiles, waving at the two of them.

"Alec?" Chloe asked, smiling faintly at him. She waved back slightly, and laughed when Alec scooped her up and into the air as she reached the last step. He was a pretty strong guy.

And cute as hell. (Can't forget that one!)

"So Senel, were you helpin' Lo with her rockness?"

Senel lifted an eyebrow at Alec, while Chloe began to push him repeatedly. Alec just laughed while Chloe pushed him, not budging one bit.

"Alec, shush!"

"Oh, I know all of your friends know! They have to!" Alec rounded the corner where everyone was sitting at the edge of the pool, watching the trio come near them. "Didn't you guys know that Chloe couldn't swim? And that she is so afraid of water it makes her cry?"

Chloe groaned and glared at Alec, shoving him one time roughly. It was hard enough to send him careening into the pool, with an angry Chloe daring him to get out so she could push him again.

"C, you can't swim?" Norma asked, slightly concerned. If she had known that she would've taught Chloe, but...She hadn't known.

"Shut up, Norma!" Chloe cried, storming off towards the cabins. She wanted to kick Alec in his gorgeous face at the moment.

He had just told everyone about her fear of water!

"Chloe!" Senel called after her, rolling his eyes at Alec's utter stupidity. If everyone had known, Chloe wouldn't have asked him to teach her. "...Damnit."

"Hey Senel! Can you help me put this sun block on?" Shirley's voice drifted from almost out of nowhere, and that was when Senel saw her in the lounge chair closest to him. She had her back to him, and the tiny string of her top untied. She held onto the top with one clumsy hand, but she was lying on her stomach, so nothing was showing.

Senel was torn though...there was the innocent beauty of Shirley, almost giving him a free show and allowing him to touch the soft, smooth skin of her back, and then there was Chloe. Chloe, his best friend, who was very upset at her deepest secret being discovered. Chloe, who had worn a one piece suit and had made his face flush at his uncensored thoughts. And those were the newest of his usual onslaught of feelings around her.

Oh yes, Senel was torn.

"Sennneellllll." Shirley drawled, and Senel heaved a sigh, taking the bottle from her as he sat on the edge of the chair. Shirley was his girlfriend and he was her protector, even if that meant he had to do something as stupid as protect her from the damn sun itself.

So much for wanting to stay loyal, huh?

"Here, I've got it."

**With Chloe**

Chloe was upset. She had yelled at Norma, first off, which wasn't a good thing at all. Then she had stupid, "I can't keep my mouth closed" Alec, who had just told everyone her deepest and darkest secret.

She couldn't swim.

Chloe sighed and buried her face further into her pillow. She couldn't push Alec over the edge of his own boat...that wasn't very nice.

"'Lo, you can't be that mad."

The voice coming from the cabin door caused Chloe to sigh louder, and then she felt his weight against the side of her bed.

"I am."

"Really? Chloe, look at me."

"You shall not receive the pleasure." She knew she was being mean, but Chloe didn't care.

"Why not? Chloeeeeeee, please?"

She could almost see his begging face from the pillow obstructing her view. Chloe sighed again and sat up, turning to look at Alec even though she was upset with him. Alec's hand came to rest on Chloe's cheek and he stared at her face with his gorgeously gray eyes.

"Chloe...Wow, you really are mad." Alec said with a laugh.

Chloe glared, pouted, and turned her head in the opposite direction. Alec was always laughing; even when it was definitely nothing to laugh about. Like now.

"'Lo, don't pout. I'm only trying to help you feel better about what I said. You can't be mad at me for that. How was I supposed to know they didn't know? You used to tell me everything - I thought you would do the same for them."

Chloe thought about what Alec was saying. Of course, she was TEN when they were friends; she would tell him everything because they were young and stupid. That had nothing to do with their friendship.

"Oh well, they know now." Chloe said, looking away from Alec still. He laughed again and hugged Chloe tightly, smiling widely.

"So, I'm sorry 'Lo. Next time I'll ask you if I can tell them."

"Thanks for the consideration." Chloe smiled, allowing Alec to hug her close. She was like that; she never hugged him back, but she never pushed him off either. It was hard already hard for her to hug someone that she hadn't seen since she was little, so touching them? Yeah, that was even harder.

"Let's go eat some ice cream, Lo. I want something sweet."

Chloe nodded and moved to climb out of the bed when Alec pressed his mouth to her's softly. She just sat there, not really doing much of anything.

"There, heh. Now I can get my ice cream." Alec helped Chloe off the bed (not like she needed it), and led her to the kitchens, where the others were already eating something. Chloe refused to meet anyone's eyes at first, but then she caught bright green glaring at her and met those eyes right on.

_'What's he glaring at me for? I didn't do anything.'_

Chloe let Alec led her to a stool and barely heard him tell her to wait for him to get their ice cream for them. She was staring at Senel, who was glaring at her harshly while he had his arm around Shirley. When the blonde looked up, the glare was still there, but it was hidden by a slight frown.

"Senny, are you ok?" Norma asked, looking at him curiously. She followed his eyes to Chloe, and giggled a bit, nudging Moses. He followed her eyes and saw Senel's look as well, then laughed a bit himself.

"Fine." Senel murmured, crossing his arms. He wore a slight pout on his face; he didn't know what they were laughing at, but he knew they were laughing at him.

"Ya sure?" Moses asked, snickering slightly. He had never noticed Senel's reactions until now, when Norma pointed them out to him.

_'It's his own fault, he shoulda stepped up. Now she's guna get married and leave 'im with Shurl!'_

"Yeah."

"Ok, brotha."

"Hmph."

Chloe watched their exchange quietly, wondering still why Senel had glared at her. She shook her head as Norma and Jay walked over to her, sitting on either side of her.

"Ya know, we wouldn't've made fun of you about your lack of water abilities. We would've taught ya, ourselves!" Norma said, smiling comfortingly at Chloe.

"I know."

"That means you should also know that we already knew. We just didn't want to pressure you into telling us. We figured you'd let us know when you were ready. Much like you did when you told Senel." Jay grinned behind his hand that he had place under his chin. He watched Chloe's eyes widen slightly in surprise, before she nodded eagerly.

"Thank you so much, guys. Coolidge," as she said this, Chloe looked directly into the emerald green eyes that she used to dream about, "thank you for not telling anyone, even when you knew that they were aware."

Senel's eyes looked confused for a second, and then something else flashed across them before he nodded and turned away. He answered her while watching Shirley happily munch on an apple, "You're welcome."

Chloe watched him with a confused look, before Alec walked back over the table with ice cream for the two of them. Alec kissed her cheek as he sat the ice cream down in front of her and then he took his spoon and fed her some of his own.

The act made Senel glare even more than he had before and with a silent huff, he strode out of the kitchen, not saying a word to anyone. Shirley watched Senel leave, a thoughtful look on her face before she shrugged and went back to her apple. She got up from the counter and went over to the table with everyone else.

"And so I was saying to the guard-"

Shirley laughed as Alec continued with his joke, watching as Will, Elsa, and Harriet walked in to join them. Soon everyone was laughing and having finished her ice cream, Chloe went to go check on her best friend...

**Outside**

She found him leaning over the ship's railing, watching the water with thoughtful green eyes. Chloe smiled to herself; even though Senel wasn't a Ferines, it seemed that the water still called to him. She walked up next to him, leaning her back against the railing and closing her eyes.

"I usually hate the water." She said softly, and she could feel his surprise. He hadn't heard her approach; he was too deep in thought.

"Do you? I hope your lesson today got you over that." Senel hated small talk. But that's what he was doing.

"It did, thank you."

"That's good."

The two were silent for a few more minutes, both thinking about what to say to each other.

"Coolidge..."

Chloe shook her head. That wasn't right. She started over, almost rejoicing that she could say what she loved saying so much.

"No, I'm sorry...Senel, why have you been so angry lately? What's wrong?"

Senel hadn't expected Chloe to actually ask him straight out. She knew she could be bold when she wanted, but she was usually sensitive to other people's feelings. But maybe she didn't want to be that way with him. Maybe she wanted complete honesty. Maybe...

"Chloe, I...It's hard to explain."

"I believe trying would be a good place to start."

Senel turned to look at her and he looked truly apologetic. Chloe didn't know why he was sorry or sad, but she wanted to know.

"I..."

"Well?"

Senel heaved a loud sigh and crossed his arms, getting slightly irritated. Why did she have to make him talk about it? "I'm jealous, Chloe."

"Jealous?" The word felt negative as Chloe spoke it, but hearing it from Senel, it felt...it felt almost good. "Why?"

"Alec." Senel spoke the one word with so much distaste, Chloe almost expected him to spit out into the ocean from his answer.

"I'm not following you..."

"I just don't trust him, Chloe."

He was lying. Bold faced lying to her. Chloe gave Senel a disapproving look, and touched his shoulder gently, "Are you sure that's it?"

"And I hate him kissing you in front of me." Senel looked into Chloe's eyes then and she drowned in green.

"You what? Why?"

"I don't know, that's the thing that's bothering me the most. I don't know, Chloe! I don't!" Senel was getting upset as each minute passed, Chloe could tell. She put her arms around him, hugging him from behind like she had only once before. He leaned back against her body, feeling her warmth and scent calm his nerves.

Chloe rested her cheek on Senel's back and she could feel him relax slightly. His breath grew more even, but his heart was still beating quickly. Her's was doing the same at Senel's closeness, but she didn't say anything.

"Chloe..."

She loved the way her name sounded when he said it. Like it was something to be cherished and loved...She loved her name because of him.

"Hmmm?"

Senel turned around; hugging her body to his and learning back against the railing. That was when their closeness took a turn; in some terms good and some bad.

Senel leaned down, lifting Chloe's chin slowly, and then, with his warm breath caressing her lips, he kissed her.

Alarms went off in Chloe's head. Senel shouldn't be kissing her! Shirley was his girlfriend, not her! But that didn't stop her. No, that didn't stop her at all. As a matter of fact, as a burning heat flooded through Chloe, she responded to the kiss and pulled Senel closer. She took in his taste and he took her breath away, and they both loved every minute of it. The arms around her waist tightened and Senel licked her bottom lip with his tongue, kissing her without reserve. Screw what everyone else thought or said.

Kissing was now Senel's new favorite sport.

Chloe's fingers got lost in Senel's snow white hair, and his mind left him as he kissed her harder, demanding she return the favor. And she returned it whole heartedly. Chloe's kisses became feverent and both of them were breathing heavily as the broke away from each other, since one did need to breathe to live. It was only for a second though, and soon they were back at it with Chloe starting the exchange this time. Senel thought it wouldn't get any better until Chloe's tongue sought its way into his mouth, but as her taste flooded all of his senses Senel knew that wasn't all the world could give him.

He wanted all of her, at that very moment; purity be damned.

Even her touched burned him, so much that he was seeing white light as her fingers lightly ran across his arms...

White light?

Senel slowly teased his mouth away from Chloe, dragging slow, sweet kisses from her as he tried to look down at their hands. Soon he had put enough space between them to look down, watching as their nails began to glow a little brighter.

"What in the world?" Chloe said breathlessly, sending Senel slightly back to his earlier mindset. If she sounded that way after just kissing, imaging how her moans would sound underneath him, whispering his name as he dove deeper and deeper...Senel shook his head, trying to get his mind in a safe place. That was such dangerous thinking.

"I don't know. It's like our Eres is reacting to our actions." Senel watched as Chloe blushed faintly when he said "actions". Well, he could call it so many other things that would make her blush even brighter...

Damn it, there he was again.

Senel shook his head, and tried to get his mind off all the things he could do to Chloe...Kissing her had just opened a door that he was not used to at all.

"Well...do you think we can stop it?" The world was crashing down on Chloe all of sudden. Since there was nothing to distract her brain, she remembered that Senel had a girlfriend, Shirley, and she herself had a fianceè.

"Why would we want that?" Apparently, Senel's brain hadn't come back yet.

"Coolidge, we-"

"Don't call me that."

This was too much. Chloe was confused, "What? Why not?"

"You're joking right? After you kiss me, you're still calling me by my last name?"

"I didn't kiss you, you kissed me." Chloe whispered fiercely, giving Senel a look like he was insane, what did that have to do with anything?

"And I'll do it again." And to prove his point, Senel crashed his lips down on Chloe's, starting it all over again, Chloe couldn't stop him either; she liked kissing him entirely too much. She could feel her knees getting weak and all she could do was cling onto Senel for dear life. Chloe felt like her heart would stop when Senel's plunged his tongue into her mouth and she whimpered slightly when he made a move to pull away.

"Wait..." she whispered against his mouth.

Senel smirked; he had proved his point. To make Chloe happy again, he licked her bottom lip for the second time that day, and then gave it a slight tug with his teeth. Chloe moved closer, kissing him fiercely. Senel wanted to roll his eyes to the back of his head at Chloe's taste. It was just too good. And mixed with the sticky sweet remains of the ice cream she had just eaten, Senel was utterly close to heaven. His hands roamed over her back and the base of her neck, tilting her head just the right way so he would leave an impression on her mind.

"We...Senel, we have to stop..." the soft murmur was half-hearted and Senel knew it.

"I..." Senel tried to move away, but he didn't want to. His body didn't want to either. He kissed Chloe deeply then tried to move himself away again. "Chloe, I can't..." He said near her ear, kissing her ear lobe softly.

"You have to...We have to." Chloe tried to untangle herself from Senel's arms, and with a few soft kisses to coax him to let her go, gently stepped away.

Senel turned back to the ocean, breathing the salty air to calm himself. He still wanted to taste Chloe everywhere, still wanted his body to burn as she touched him. They were in a dangerous spot now.

Chloe moved about three more steps away from him. She couldn't trust either of them...what just happened showed her the truth behind her every action up until now. She realized why she had never touched him too often; because it burned her fingers and left her aching. Now that realization was in full swing, and oh she wanted to feel his hands on her again, feel his breath near her ear and kiss him till his taste was permenately in her mouth.

So she did the only thing she knew to do...Chloe ran. She took off to the cabins, running as fast as she could away from Senel. She was nearing the bathroom, when a hand wrapped around her wrist and brought her with a body so warm, Chloe swore it burned her.

"Don't run from me, Chloe. Please don't run from me..." Senel's voice was pleading and it broke Chloe. She leaned her head up and kissed Senel softly, letting him know she was there for him. They would go through their betrayal together, since together they had accomplished the task.

They stumbled into the bathroom and soon Chloe found herself against the shut door, feeling Senel's mouth trail hot kisses down her neck. She covered her mouth with her hand to stop the soft moan starting in the bottom of her throat, and Senel noticed it, kissing her fingers one by one, before slowly removing her hand and kissing her mouth meaningfully.

As Chloe's mind drifted to oblivion, she knew one thing; her relationship with Senel had become very dangerous all of a sudden.

End Chapter 3

A/n: I'd love lots of comments on this please! Do you guys think I got to the juicy stuff too fast? Lol, tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

My Heart Tells No Tales

By: Sailorjj07

4. Chapter 4

A/n: Wow, haven't been here in a while, huh? HELLO EVERYONE!

Disclaimer I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

Chloe shot up in bed and tried to calm her pounding heart. For a moment, she was sure that it had been daytime, but as her breathing slowed and she could look around the room, Chloe realized that she was very wrong. Pale moonlight filled the small circular window by her bed, illumining the wooden floor at the edge of her bed. Yes, it was indeed nighttime, and all the other girls in the room were sound asleep.

"What in the world?" Chloe whispered out loud to herself. She held her hand over her heart as it broke away from its accelerated pace.

_'All of that was a dream? Every bit?!'_

Chloe had been so close. She had felt Senel's breath mingling with her own...And it was only a dream! Truthfully, Chloe was somewhat relieved that she had made up the swimming lesson, the embarrassing truth about her problems with water and the slightly upset look on Shirley's face. Chloe was honestly happy that she had made all those things up somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind.

But she was very upset that the kisses with Senel were fake. She was sad because he had thoroughly enjoyed kissing her and she had loved it like her favorite food.

With a sigh, Chloe lay back down in her bed, and then turned on her side. She stared at the single spot of moonlight on the floor, running the dream through her mind again.

_'I've never, ever had a dream like that before...What's going on with me?'_

As she lay there, Chloe tried to remember WHEN exactly she had fallen asleep. She didn't really remember it...But she did remember being in a chair by the pool...

_'Senel had asked me something about Alec... Oh I remember now!_

_"Do you trust him?" He asked me, with a very serious look on his face. I had nodded at him and told him I did, because Alec had saved me countless times. If nothing else, I trusted him with my life. Completely._

_"Just because he's saved you doesn't mean his heart was in it. Maybe he just hates to see women upset." Senel had said to me, watching Shirley play in the pool with the others._

_At least, that's what it looked like he was doing._

_"Coolidge, wouldn't that mean you do that too? I mean, you've been there for all of the women on this boat. Was your heart not in it either?" I knew what I had said to him would hurt a little bit; it hurt me to say it, but it was also bothering me to hear how much he disliked Alec._

_And for no reason!_

_"O-Of course! But that's not what I meant! He's different than I am and, and-! It's not the same!" Senel was frustrated, it was written all over his face. For some reason, he didn't know what he meant or what he was trying to say._

_"No? Coolidge, of all people, I expected you to be happy for me..." I honestly had. He was being completely unfair, in all truth. I had forced back any and all feelings I had for Senel when I realized nothing would come between him and Shirley. So why couldn't he have the same respect for me? It's not like he feels anything for me, so why should I have to wait for his approval?_

_Feeling myself getting angry, I pushed my hat lower to cover my face, and rolled onto my back. I was done talking to Senel until he could learn to be nice to Alec, if only to make me feel better._

_I was having enough trouble as it was._

_"Chloe..."_

_"Coolidge, I'm sleeping."_

_"But Chloe-!"_

_I rolled completely on my stomach and put my head down into the chair to let him know I was completely done talking to him right now. _

_Soon enough, I was drifting off to sleep as the boat rocked gently. Sometimes water wasn't so bad...'_

"...'Lo? Are you awake, Lo?" A soft voice broke Chloe from her thoughts and soon, a pair of big feet covered her patch of light.

"Alec? Alec, what're you doing here?" Chloe whispered, just as softly. Her only answer was his arms, wrapping around her and then picking her up out of her bed. Chloe gave a soft gasp as Alec pressed his mouth down on her's gently. As usual, she didn't respond, but she didn't pull away either.

Being kissed by Alec was...nice.

"Will you come take a walk with me?" Alec whispered in her ear as he pulled away. Chloe nodded gently, and Alec carried her out of the girls' room, sneaking out as softly as he had snuck in.

**Outside**

"Is this all too much, Lo? Do you want me to give you some room?" Alec asked, motioning at the ship, and everything around them. He figured Chloe was slightly upset with him because as soon as they had gotten on the ship, she headed straight for the girls' room, changed into her swimsuit, then sat on deck and slept. That's all she had done yesterday: eat and sleep.

"No, its not too much...I just...you know." Chloe blushed slightly, still ashamed over her fear of water.

"Oh yeah! Lo, you're still afraid of water? Wow! I can't believe you haven't gotten over your fear of water yet!"

"Alec! SHHHHH!! What if they hear you?!" Chloe had jumped up on her tiptoes to keep Alec quiet, and he laughed behind her hand over his mouth.

Slowly, he kissed her palm and removed her hand. Alec gave another soft chuckle before he pulled Chloe close and sat his chin on top of her head, "You haven't told them? Lo, I've never known you to hide secrets."

"Well, that is the only one and it is so very embarrassing..." Chloe blushed again, looking down at the floor. She really didn't want to talk about this right now.

Sensing her nervousness, Alec leaned down, positioning his mouth directly next to Chloe's ear. "Chloe...Come swim with me."

"Wh-what? Alec, you know I can't-!"

Alec gently untangled himself from Chloe and gave her a soft push in the direction of her room, "Go change. I won't take no for an answer, either."

"B-But-!"

"Chloe, you're only afraid because of that day you almost fell into the well. If I can save you from that, don't you think I can protect you from a pool?" Alec smirked confidently, and for a moment, Chloe wanted to push him into said pool. But she sighed and trudged over to the room, digging her swimsuit out of her pack and changing. Soon she was outside, with Alec already waiting in the water.

"Ok Lo, are you ready?"

"No. No, I'm not."

"Lo! Come on! Don't be that way, darling. You can do this."

Sighing, Chloe took a step towards the water's edge. She could see the stairs waiting for her in the faint moonlight and there, at the bottom, stood Alec with his arms stretched wide, waiting for her.

"You can do it, Lo. Just take it one step at a time." Alec was trying to coax her forward and for a second, he thought she would rush in, just to reach him.

But instead she did just as he said. Chloe took the steps one step at a time, slightly panicking as the water swirled around her frame.

"Calm down, Lo. It's just parting so you can get through. Come on, Chloe...You're almost there."

Looking up, Chloe could see the proud look filling Alec's face. He was there when she developed her fear of water and now; he was here to see her overcome it. For some reason, Chloe felt extremely grateful. So she looked into Alec's face, staring at his joyous gray eyes, and walked steadily forward, hoping and praying she wouldn't trip and drown on her way to him.

Soon enough, Alec's arms came around Chloe and he gave a loud cry of joy, sweeping Chloe up into his arms and hugging her tightly.

"See, you did it! I knew you could do it, Lo! Not even water can keep us apart!" Alec grinned even wider, and Chloe could feel herself smiling with her own joy.

She did it!

"Now, I'll teach you how to swim. That way, you won't just be walking everywhere."

**The Next Morning**

"C! Ceeeeeeee!! Come on, C, wake up!"

Chloe groaned and rolled over. The annoying pork bun with Norma's head just wouldn't stop rolling on her. Why wouldn't it stop?!

"Ugh, what?!" Chloe turned in the direction of the irritating voice and Norma just burst into laughter, wishing she had a camera right now.

"Wow, C, you're mouth is totally red. What happened to you? Did Al bite you or something?"

Chloe blushed because Alec had kissed her until her lips were swollen last night. For the first time ever, Chloe had kissed Alec back in her joy of overcoming her fear. It totally took him off-guard and unleashed a new found passion inside of him that Chloe had never seen before. Alec had just been entirely too happy for her to stop him.

So they were still slightly bigger than normal.

"No, Norma, he didn't." Chloe huffed and covered her head with her covers, rolling back over.

"Awww, come on C, you know I'm just teasin ya! Seriously, though, you've gotta get up, we're getting closer and closer to the Legacy. You can see it!"

_'Really?'_

Chloe sat up, staring at Norma seriously, before she smiled softly, "Ok, I'll be up in a little while. I have to get dressed."

"Yeah, yeah. Just hurry up, ok? You don't wanna miss this!" Norma grinned at Chloe and took off out of the room, where Chloe heard her talking to Moses.

"So did sis wake up?"

"Of course, Mo. Hey, cut that out!" Then Norma lowered her voice to a whisper: "What if someone sees you?"

"Bubbles, I dun care, suga."

Chloe giggled to herself, because she knew the truth. She had always known the truth, but this had just confirmed it. Norma and Moses were definitely together.

Humming softly to herself, Chloe went into the bathroom to get dressed.

**An Hour Later**

"Whoa! I never knew the Legacy was so huge!" Elsa cried, and Jay, who stood beside her merely nodded.

"Well, I'd imagine it has to be for all that traveling we did." Senel commented from his position beside Shirley. He watched the Ferines stand up on the railing in front of him, her pale blond hair billowing in the wind. She truly was an angel.

"Brotha has a point." Moses added, nodding. Norma stood in front of him, sitting on the railing beside Shirley, ignoring the conversation. She watched as home got closer and closer.

"Hey, where's Al and C?" Norma asked the group around her after a while.

"Up there, nitwit." Jay pointed up, where everyone could see Chloe and Alec watching the ship's captain steer them towards the Legacy. Norma giggled as she watched Senel's face; he was really bored with the Chloe and Alec talk, she could tell.

"Do you really think Big Sis will marry him?" Elsa asked, and Norma giggled again.

"Unless someone else is totally in love with C. That'd be the only thing stopping her, I think. Then again, if it's bad for that person to love her, I think she'll be with Al, anyway."

"Do you think she loves him, Norma?"

"Now that...I couldn't tell ya. I think maybe, but-! OW! Teach!"

"You shouldn't talk about other people when they are not here to defend themselves, Norma." Will, Grune, and Harriet joined the crowd at the ship's stern. Harriet was excited to see the Legacy and even more excited to be so close to home.

"Dad, look! We're almost home!"

"You're right, Harriet. I'm sure the town will have a huge party waiting for us when we get there."

"If not, you're all welcome to attend my house warming party!"

Everyone turned to find Alec walking towards the group with Chloe on his arm beside him. Chloe blushed as everyone's eyes reached them, but tried to cover it up as best as possible.

"Al, a house warming party?" Norma hopped off the railing and moved closer to the couple so she could hear Alec better.

"Well, yes. You see, I'm having a house built in town so that I can be closer to my beloved Chloe," here, Chloe blushed bright red and turned her face away from her friends, "And so, I'd like to invite you all to come see my brand-new home."

"You mean it'll be done by the time we get there?!" Harriet was in shock. She'd never heard of a house being built so quickly.

"Of course! Only the best builders of Gadoria have worked to build me a house filled with love for myself and my future bride!" Here, he hugged Chloe closer to him, and if Chloe could blush any brighter, she would've. She nearly felt faint from embarrassment.

_'His future bride, huh? I wonder if she really does love him...' _Norma thought to herself, and she couldn't help but look in Chloe's face for any signs. Most people in love had some sort of glow, like Senel and Shirl had when they confessed to each other. But Chloe didn't have that and Norma couldn't help but wonder why.

Was she not really in love with Alec?

This house party would be a great chance to find out.

"So who all will be invited to your party, Alec? Besides us, of course." Will asked, and Alec chuckled understanding the reasons behind his question.

"The entire town, of course! I've had my servant send invitations to every door already."

"Oh my..." Grune said, with her usual dazed expression. She leaned into Will with a smile and looked up at his slightly blushing face, "Can we go?"

"I-I don't see why not. I m-mean, we are invited after all." Will stuttered, apparently not used to Grune's blatant display of affection. Will blushed and took a step away from Grune, only for her to snuggle closer into his side, bare skin against him. She did have ultra high slits in her skirt, after all.

Harriet huffed from her position on the other side of her father, "That beautiful idiot," she murmured. "No one's supposed to know yet..."

"Um, Teach?" Norma had seen and heard the entire exchange and she was shocked, to say the least. Teach and G-Girl? Whoa, totally didn't see that one coming.

"Not right now, Norma." Will coughed out, turning his obviously red face away from everyone's eyes.

"But-! OW! Ok, ok!" Norma pouted and stood behind Moses, putting him between herself and Will. "Meanie..."

Still, Norma knew she would need time to plot. And she'd definitely need help.

"Hey Red," she whispered into his ear, and Norma explained the situation to him then and there, while everyone else began to scatter about.

Oh, yes, they'd definitely find out if Chloe was really in love with Alec. The ultimate test in love!

**Twenty Minutes Later**

"Let's swim! Ooo, I wanna swim!" Norma bounced around on the balls on her feet in her swimsuit, eagerly waiting Chloe to change into her extra swimsuit. Really, the girl needed to learn the benefits of having more than one set of any outfit...Norma shook her head and danced around in front of the bathroom door, waiting on Chloe.

"Norma, wait!" Chloe yelled from behind the door, She was trying to stuff her chest into Norma's suit but...she was having a time that's for sure.

"Ceeeeeee, you're taking so long! Why're you taking such a long time?!"

"Because! My! Chest! Isn't fitting!"

"Seriously?! Whoa, C, you've got a rack! Hold on, I'm coming to help!" Norma yanked the door open and pushed Chloe's hands away from the offending top. "Ahhh, here's the problem. You didn't tie it right. First you tie it here, then here."

Norma pointed at the ties in the center and the halter of swimsuit. "But even then, C, you've got a pretty nice sized rack. No wonder ya cover it up all the time! You'd have to beat the men off of you with a stick! Although I have to throw magic at them, hehe." Norma winked at Chloe and then strode out of the bathroom.

With a bright red face, Chloe slammed the door shut. Norma could be so bold sometimes!

But Chloe had no idea. On the other side of the door, Norma was still plotting on ways to get Chloe to spit out the truth.

And the truth was either going to set her free or make things worse.

End Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

My Heart Tells No Tales

By: Sailorjj07

5. Chapter 5

A/n: Waaazzzzz uuupppp?? ^__^ THANKS FOR REVIEWING GUYS! Sorry I've been away for so long, haha. So chapter four was pretty uneventful, right? Well, this one won't be! And it's long too!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

Chloe shivered as she stood in front of the open window in her own bedroom. It felt good to be on the Legacy again for the first time in months. Chloe found it hard to think she was still on a moving ship, because all she felt right now was peace.

It felt good to be home.

"Hey, C, what're you gonna wear to Alec's party? I mean, isn't it your engagement party too?" Norma was laid out on Chloe's bed, staring up at the magazine she held over her head. There were dresses of all colors and designs littering the pages and Norma was trying to choose at least one for herself.

The other ones would be for Chloe, Grune and Shirley.

"I'm going to wear what I usually wear...Since there's no engagement to announce."

Norma sat up, her eyes narrowing in disbelief, "After that scene in Gadoria, you really think NO ONE will know about your betrothal to Al? Ha! Girl, there's definitely an entire RPG running in your head!"

Chloe turned from the window this time, her face a picture of complete shock, "You mean...people know?"

"People know? C, have you seen the paper? It's in the news! EVERYONE knows! Al made sure of that. Whatever guys you had coming your way are probably jumping off of bridges now. Poor C. How's it feel to be off the market?"

"I am not off the market, and don't refer to relationships as a place to trade and sell." Chloe admonished, moving away from the window. She sighed and sat down on her bed beside Norma, staring out at a bird who fluttered onto the window sill, "I can't believe all this is happening."

"All what? You being engaged? I'd say I'm more shocked about Teach and G-Girl-! Ow! C!! Geeezz!!"

"I'm serious, Norma! I...I'm not..."

"You're not in love with Al? We all knew that already. But if you don't love him, why are you lettin' this thing go on?"

"Well...because..." Chloe found herself trailing off in mid-explanation. Why was she letting this continue? Truthfully, she didn't know, "I owe him so much..."

"From what? When you were a kid? C, you were a kid! And he was an older kid, who happened to be your fiancée. He took care of you because he loved you, not because he felt an obligation to. What's to repay?"

Chloe remained silent as Norma ripped her argument to shreds. Well, she had tried.

"I just think you're afraid to tell him no." Norma murmured, lowering the magazine closer to her face. That yellow dress looked really tempting.

**With Senel**

"Will, it seems like their quality has gone down. Like really gone down. What were these guys doing while we were gone? And why does EVERYONE have a newspaper today?!"

Senel was frustrated, to say the least. The Task Force's captain had returned from a month long diplomatic excursion as a hero of the Legacy, only to find that all his troops were either falling asleep at their posts or reading the newspaper, laid out all over the Task Force HQ.

Senel tried not to scream at the top of his lungs while expressing the situation to Will, but it was pretty hard seeing as how he was fairly pissed off at this point.

"Well...have you seen the newspaper for today, Senel?" Will asked curiously, writing in the notebook on his desk. He didn't really have anything to do himself, so reading the newspaper sounded fairly interesting to Will.

"No, I haven't but-!"

Will shook his head as he slid open the top drawer of his desk and handed Senel his copy of the day's paper, "Read it for yourself."

Will watched in amusement as Senel's eyes scanned the page, then grew considerably large, "What the hell is this?!" Senel exclaimed, slamming his hand against the picture on the front page.

"You know exactly what it is. It's a picture of the day Alec told the rest of the world his engagement with Chloe was still on."

"It's not like he's a prince or something!" Senel huffed, practically chunking the newspaper away from himself.

Will shook his head, trying his hardest not to laugh, "No, but he is a nobility of Gadoria. How many other people in this town are married to royalty?"

The teacher tried not to mention that Senel's very own girlfriend was a Ferines, the most important Ferines in the land at that.

Senel's only response to Will's comment was a huff, as his forest green orbs scanned the room. He gave another loud sigh of frustration, before he stood up straight and took a deep breath, "EVERYONE OUTSIDE TO THE TRAINING RING! NOW!"

Will chuckled loudly as all the men in the room stumbled over one another to follow the pissed off Captain Senel's orders. One solider even had the balls to groan out loud: "Where's Vice-Captain Valens to stop this crazy man?"

"Oh, I'm crazy am I?!" Senel yelled, as the door to the training yard slammed behind him.

Will prayed to the heavens above that Senel didn't kill anyone during his intense training.

**Three Hours Later**

Chloe walked with a purpose towards the Task Force HQ, having agreed to come in at a later time to cover for Senel when he left. She strolled into the Task Force office, humming softly to herself. As she opened the door, laughter floated up to her ears. Upon further inspection, Chloe found Alec leaning against Will's desk, the business man and the professor engaged in what appeared to be a very amusing conversation.

As Chloe stepped further into the room, Alec looked up, his gray eyes glowing in delight as he saw her, wasting no time to greet and hug her. Chloe blushed severely as several of her subordinates in the room giggled at the flush of red in her cheeks.

"'Lo! You made it! Today's my first day as Sub-Vice Captain of the Task Force! Isn't that great? They even gave us a shift together!"

Chloe looked at Alec questioningly before her eyes narrowed and she turned to Will, "Oh really? I was failed to be informed of that, Alec. Just how did Alec become Sub-Vice Captain in one day, Will?"

Will blinked under the woman's fierce gaze, trying to establish if she was indeed glaring at him. It certainly felt like it: "Well, it wasn't exactly my idea..."

"Then who do I owe this...pleasant surprise to?" Chloe fought the urge to punch someone at the current state of events. It's not that she didn't want Alec to earn his keep here; on the contrary, she wanted him to work just as hard as everyone else, but directly underneath her?!

He was one rank below her! And to put them on the same shifts! It was absolutely ludicrous and Chloe knew she wouldn't get anything done now.

"Umm...the higher ups?" Will said sheepishly, gathering his things quickly. He didn't want to take Chloe's glare any longer then he had to, "Hey is that Grune? Ah, she came early!"

Chloe looked from left to right, trying to see where exactly Grune was. Slowly, she realized Will had given her the slip-up and had darted from the room, the door slamming in his hasty exit. Chloe shook her head and sighed, heading over to her desk, where a pile of paperwork sat waiting for her. She sat in the wooden chair slowly, massaging her temples at the sight of the built up work she had. These papers would take her at least five days to sort through and approve.

She almost regretted going home to Gadoria for a month.

"Hey 'Lo, where's that Senel fellow?"

"Hmm, well I'm not too sure, honestly. I heard that he was giving everyone some sort of training, but I have not seen Coolidge today."

At that moment, the door to the Task Force training ring burst open as a solider drug himself in, quite literally by his hands and knees. Chloe sat at her desk, her mouth agape as Alec stared in shock.

"H-Help...M-Ms. Valens...He's cra-..." The man collapsed; as if the wooden floor was the best bed he'd ever laid on,"Zzzzyyyy...Ooh, this floor feels so good."

Both Chloe and Alec sat in startled silence for a moment before there was a flurry of movement from the two. Chloe had already came around her desk and made a direct path for the open door, where she heard a stern voice barking out commands. Alec was directly behind her, helping her to skirt around the man lying on the floor.

"SEE? YOU'RE ALL SO OUT OF SHAPE! IS THIS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I LEAVE FOR A MONTH?! KEEP RUNNING, YOU LAZY PEOPLE!"

Chloe blinked at the scene unfolding in front of her. Senel stood up on a platform, belting out such encouraging words to their troops, while they ran in laps around the entire training ring. Some men had long since collapsed in the middle of the circle that ran around them, while the other men and women fought on, pushing their limits to endure their captain's rampage.

Chloe noticed, with some satisfaction, that most of her girls were pushing themselves just as hard as the men; only two women sat in the middle, while nearly ten men were practically kissing the dirt.

Shaking her pride from her mind, striding over to the platform that Senel stood on. She could see the anger in his face and wondered just on Earth had made him this anger. Perhaps he and Shirley had fought over something today?

"Coolidge?"

Senel glanced at Chloe out of the corner of his eye as she stepped up to him, his arms crossed and the stoic look still on his face, "Oh, hey Chloe." He then went back to watching the group run, as two more stepped away from the group and planted themselves into the center.

Obviously, Senel hadn't really noticed her, so she tried again: "Coolidge...What is the meaning of this?"

Senel turned his angry expression on her, his green eyes livid, "Those lazy bums! They haven't trained at all since we left, Chloe. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF SOMEONE ATTACKED THE CITY TODAY?! HOW DO SLACKERS PROTECT PEOPLE?!"

Chloe sighed, and reached her hand out slowly, touching Senel's shoulder, "You and I need to have a talk. Alone. Right now."

"But, I can't, I have to-!"

"Now, Senel. Right this very instant," Chloe put her hands on her hips as her voice took on such a firm tone. Her eyes blazed defiantly; she dared him to deny her. Senel's green eyes widened a tad bit as he realized with some hidden satisfaction that Chloe had called him by his first name.

Shaking that thought away, Senel looked around Chloe to find Alec looking idiotically (to him) around: "What about him? Your fiancée." Senel jerked his thumb in Alec's direction, who had been bouncing on the balls of his feet when he realized the two were talking about him.

Chloe nodded, and reached onto the silver chain around her neck. There sat a whistle, which she wasted no time in blowing loudly. The shrill whistle stopped the group's pace, mid-step.

"Alright everyone, take a seat over here and gather around. This is your new Sub-vice Commander Alec. He's gonna introduce himself to you guys and answer any questions you may have." Chloe took a step back and motioned for Alec to take her and Senel's spot as the group began to gather around them.

"W-What? Lo, what do I-?" Alec whispered fiercely as he walked towards her.

"You shall be fine. We will return shortly." Chloe looked over at Senel to find him glaring at Alec severely. The black haired woman gave another sigh and grabbed her commanding officer's sleeve, pulling him along behind her.

Once she and Senel had gotten far enough for Alec to be out of Senel's line of vision, the glare slowly seeped out of his face. The two stepped back into the Task Force building, stepping into Senel's office and closing the door behind themselves. Chloe sat on the edge of his desk while Senel plopped down in his plush leather seat.

"Coolidge, you are angry." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, I am. I can't believe they didn't train. And then when I come in their reading the paper-!"

Chloe interrupted Senel's oncoming soap box, "The paper? Why the paper?"

"Haven't you seen it yet?"

As Chloe shook her head, Senel showed her the copy that someone had placed on his desk, "Your fiaNOTcee has broadcasted to the entire city about your betrothal. I thought people didn't have to honor those anymore?"

Chloe sighed, rolling her eyes, "Coolidge, calm down please."

"Well, it makes me angry."

"But it is my choice to make." At Chloe's chilling gaze, a part of Senel told him to stop right there and just let it be.

Unfortunately, Senel didn't feel like listening to that part of himself today.

"You don't even love him!" He countered, knowing for sure that he had just made a personal attack; one that would not be taken too lightly.

And it wasn't. Chloe pondered in the back of her mind why everyone was on her case about weither she loved Alec or not. Truth be told, it was really none of their business.

"Do you love Shirley?" Was Chloe's cold response and Senel found himself staring back at her in shock.

"Well of course I do, I wouldn't-! Hey, don't turn this on me!"

"Are you sure of it? That you love Shirley enough to marry her this instant?" Chloe continued to pound her gaze into Senel, knowing full well that the man in front of her definitely didn't know the answer to her question.

As Senel stayed silent, trying to think up a cutting response, Chloe held up her hand, saving him from making her even more angry, "That is exactly what I thought. Senel, I do not know why you are so very angry today, but I will not be the recipient of it."

With that said, Chloe gave him one last cold look before she turned and left the room, slamming the door as she did so, for extra impact.

Senel sat staring at the door after she left. He sighed, running his tanned fingers through his stark white hair. Why were the women in his life so difficult? It wasn't so much that Chloe was getting married that bothered him.

Well, on second thought, that DID bother him, but it was the fact that it was Alec too. Not that he really had anything personal against the guy; he hadn't known him long enough to have that kind of grudge.

Senel just didn't like it! He didn't like any of it! The idea of Chloe getting married to some stranger just set him off. And the fact that stranger setting off his internal alarm by his mere presence didn't set well with the Marine either.

On to throw the icing on the cake, Chloe didn't even love him! Why on Earth would she get married to someone she didn't love? Not that she had agreed to the engagement so far, but she hadn't turned down his advances either, which made no sense to Senel whatsoever.

He wouldn't want some random girl kissing him and throwing herself at him. How disgusting would that be? Senel couldn't understand how Chloe could deal with it, even if the man was her childhood friend.

Senel heaved another loud sigh, dropping his head down on his desk. Today was really pissing him off just all the way around. And then that stupid Alec guy was HERE! Senel doubted that the man could even fight.

"Sir!" There was a knock at Senel's door, placing a hold on his thoughts. He brought his head up quickly, adjusting his position in the chair.

"Come in!"

A middle-aged troop came in, saluting Senel upon entry to his office. Senel nodded and the man stood at ease, "Sir, the Sub Vice-Captain requests your audience."

"For what?"

"He and Ms. Valens are going to have a sparring match to show us his abilities. He said he believes that we would respect his position more if we were shown a bit of what he was capable of."

For some reason, Senel was extremely amused by this idea. Senel had a firm belief in his hypothesis that the man wasn't a fighter; he acted much too spoiled to be any good. As a smirk crossed his face and Senel felt himself feel a tad bit better at being able to see Alec's embarrass himself, he stood up, nodding gratefully, "I'll follow you."

**Outside**

Senel sat down on the platform with the rest of his troops as he watched Chloe and Alec stretch, preparing for their sparing match. The two exchanged playful banter back and forth, as Chloe made a few quick swipes in the air to test out her arm. While she did this, Senel's green eyes turned to Alec, who was pulling something out of a long bag he had placed aside.

"A-! A Bo staff? Seriously?" Senel tried to cover his surprise, but failed miserably. Upon hearing his exclamation, Alec turned to Senel and waved at him with a wide grin on his face.

"Senel, can you call the battle to start?" He called to the white-haired man, who nodded slowly.

Senel waited as Alec spun the long pole, from one side to the other, flipping it and twisting it behind his back as he brought it around to stand in a defensive stance, "Start!"

And Alec was on Chloe like white on rice. He swung the staff at her, and at the last minute Chloe bounded out of the way, jumping back and away from the pole. She smacked it away with a metallic ring and side-stepped another swipe at her middle.

"Oh no, Lo. You'll have to try harder than that! Yah!" Alec cried, bringing the pole around behind his back and then twisting it outward as he turned, delivering a nice tap against Chloe's ankle.

She groaned and stepped away, "1 to 0, then, Alec."

"Yes, of course, Lo." But Alec didn't have time to rejoice in his victory. With lightening fast speed, Chloe ran forward, bouncing left and right, getting insanely close to Alec's face and tapping her blade against his neck. He gulped slowly, "1 to 1."

"Why yes, I think so." Alec grinned and swung his Bo staff under Chloe's legs, causing the girl to jump back. She chunked her blade up and away in the air from herself, back flipping further away from Alec. As Chloe landed on her legs, she caught her blade by the hilt as it came careening back towards the Earth.

Alec's grin grew wider if that was at all possible. He charged at Chloe striking everywhere as quickly as he could, Chloe barely had time to dodge and sighed faintly as her hat was knocked off her head.

"I do like your hair better that way."

Chloe laughed, amused, "But it's my hair!" She told him, rushing in all at once. Alec saw her coming this time though, and brought his Bo staff up, blocking Chloe's blade.

That didn't stop her though. With a grunt at the force of the power-lock between them, Chloe swept her ankle under Alec's feet and watched as he fell on his backside with a loud thump. As quickly as she could, Chloe tapped the blunt edge of her blade against Alec's neck, then traced the path down to his chest and tapped there.

"I win." Chloe said with a smile, and then she sheathed the blade, holding her hand out to Alec. He took her hand gratefully, his grey eyes glittering with admiration and adrenaline. Then he yanked her closer, and leaned down, kissing her in front of everyone with abandon.

Chloe blinked in surprised as a bright red blush rushed up to her face. Still, she only slightly kissed Alec back before he pulled away from her, hugging her tightly, "Lo, you've gotten so good!"

"And you, Alec, have gotten very rusty."

Senel sat on the sidelines becoming more and more pissed. All of the girls around him were "ooing" and "awwing" like their kiss was the cutest thing in the world. Senel, on the other hand, wanted to puke. The other men with him wanted to slap Alec on the back; the man was an inspiration.

"Hey you two, break it up! Break it up! This is supposed to be a sparring match!" Senel called over to them.

Instantly Chloe pulled away from Alec, who stood there grinning like an idiot.

"Did you see that? Vice-Captain Valens is so awesome!" One of the women cried, and the other lady sitting beside her nodded eagerly.

A third girl beside them was just as excited, "And what about the Sub Vice-Captain? He was awesome too!"

Senel sighed again, loudly and with anger clearly on his face for about the third time that day. He really didn't want to hear this. He got up and slid off the platform, heading for the door.

It was definitely time for him to go home before he blew up on anyone else.

**That Night**

Left, right, left, right, left, right.

Senel couldn't stop pacing even if he wanted to. He swore he ran a track into the hill as he paced, the lush grass beneath his feet slowly losing thickness with each repeated turn that he made. The pale moonlight glowed in his snow colored hair as he kept up with his pacing. He was just so...frustrated! With the troops, with Alec, with Chloe and most importantly, Senel was frustrated with himself.

He really didn't know why he was so angry. He knew it had to do with Alec; he'd be on edge since the man showed up to get on his nerves. But he didn't know why.

Truth be told, Senel had never in his life felt like this before. He was angry at this man for simply existing it appeared and Senel had never wanted to witness someone else embarrassing themselves before. He felt an almost resentment for the man when logically, there was nothing really wrong with Alec.

He was rich, and that was a good thing. He seem kind to others and he appeared to care; not only for Chloe but for everyone around him. He seemed like a man that loved to have fun, that enjoyed teasing others and was passionate with everything that he did.

Logically, he was almost perfect.

And to Senel, he was just too perfect. Not too perfect for his best friend; to Senel, no one was worthy of Chloe in his eyes, but this went past his personal bias. Something about Alec just really set him off.

To make his irritation worse, everyone around him thought the world of the man. Shirley said he had very funny jokes, Norma just likes rich people, Will called the man intelligent; hell, even Jay and Moses thought the guy was fairly decent. Senel realized he never had asked Grune and Harriet what they thought of the man, but he was pretty sure that neither of them minded him either.

So why was he the odd man out? Why did he dislike one person so much when his family believed Alec to be a good edition?

"Ugh, what is wrong with me?!"

"I wish to know the answer to that as well."

Senel gave a startled grunt as Chloe came trudging up the hill behind him, her amethyst eyes regarding him almost coldly. She took note of the slowly thinning grass and plopped down underneath the tree directly beside Senel's pace path.

"Chloe..."

"Coolidge, you are being ridiculous."

Senel's green eyes nearly slammed into Chloe as he felt his irritation go up a notch, "I am not! I'm mad, ok? I'm really mad!"

"And now you sound like a child." Chloe shook her head, crossing her arms as she stood up. She unsheathed her blade slowly, and held it out in front of her, sliding into her defensive stance for the second time that day. "Senel, fight me."

"What?"

"We are going to cool that blazing head of yours. You will fight me or I will knock you down this hill; your choice, my friend."

Senel narrowed his eyes at Chloe, trying to figure out what her angle was. Was she just trying to slice him up for making her angry earlier? One look at Chloe and he realized he may have hit the jackpot.

"And before you get it in your crazy head that I am trying to murder you and get away with it, let me remind you that I am not. We shall spar, Coolidge."

"Chloe, I don't think-! Damn it, Chloe! I'm-! Hey, quit!" Senel ducked and dodged as Chloe swung at him relentlessly, ignoring his protests. For Senel, fighting did indeed help him feel better. Chloe knew him well enough to know that.

"The time for talking is not now." Chloe told him sternly, swiping at his head with the blunt edge of her blade. Senel dodged out of the way and threw a punch in Chloe's direction, who blocked his bracer with her blade.

The two continued to dodge each other, back and forth, neither managing to land a hit on the other.

"Senel, I will hit you ye-! Ahhhhh!!"

"Chloe! Shit!"

Senel's green eyes were wide as Chloe wobbled at the edge of the hill. He dashed forward to pull her back, but all he managed to catch was Chloe's hand as he sent them both over the edge. They rolled and tumbled down the hill, landing with a plop on the flat ground below.

Senel groaned loudly as he slowly opened his eyes, holding his head in pain. Chloe grimaced too, since the movement made her back ache even worse.

_'Wait, why am I hurting because Senel moved?'_

With wide eyes from both, they realized the answer to Chloe's question. Chloe had somehow fallen on top of Senel as they began their roll down the hillside, probably because he was trying to take the brunt of the damage caused by their fall. Chloe tried to calm the loud pounding of her heart in her ears, as Senel's breath caught in his throat.

Chloe had never looked so beautiful.

As she loomed over him, her face blocking the moonlight from his line of vision, Senel couldn't seem to stop staring at her. Her hat had fallen off to the side somewhere, leaving her jet black hair free for the wind to tease. Her eyes glittered with concern even as a pretty blush ran a path across her cheeks.

Diverting his gaze from the woman above him completely, Senel tried to ignore his irregular breathing. But there was just too much of Chloe around him. He could smell her scent all around him: a mixture of strawberries and blueberries, her two favorite fruits. He could smell some of that cleanly hospital smell from her too, but the berry-scent coming off of her was more potent than the other.

Before Chloe thought she would die, she got up suddenly, blushing and stammering the whole way, "I-I am sorry, Coolidge, I did not m-mean t-to-!"

"I-It's ok, Chloe." Senel knew he was probably blushing too as he got up, and turned his back to her completely trying to bring his breathing pattern back to normal. Senel could still feel his pulse singing from the close contact with Chloe.

But he shrugged it off as adrenaline and tried to fight the blush off of his face.

"T-That was a very l-large hill; we fell p-pretty far," Chloe said nervously. Her heart was still pounding a mile a minute and she tried to still it, if only because she swore Senel would be able to hear it.

"Y-Yeah, I wasn't looking when I came here." Senel remained with his back to Chloe, crossing his arms over his chest. Why couldn't he calm down?

Chloe was quiet for a moment, and then she began walking away, saying over her shoulder, "I have duties in the hospital I must attend to before I go to bed...Goodbye Coolidge."

Senel turned this time, opening his mouth to reply. He wanted to stop her and ask her more about...something; anything to keep her there, but he stopped himself, "Good night, Chloe."

She nodded again before she ran off, and vanished from sight. Senel groaned loudly as he plopped down on the ground, burring his face in his knees.

Well...At least he wasn't angry anymore.

End Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

My Heart Tells No Tales

By: Sailorjj07

6. Chapter 6

A/n: Whoaaa. I published this in '07? Man, that's absolutely awful that it's taken me this long. Lol. Some stories just fall to the wayside, I guess. Anyways, I've updated! After a year, but I did it! Lol.

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

'Thinking'

**Actions**

(Me!)

Senel opened his eyes wide as the sunlight filtered in through his window. He heard Shirley moving around their house, humming softly as she did whatever she was doing. Normally, her lovely voice wouldn't irritate him, but after the dream he had just had, of Chloe no less, something about the girl's innocent voice irked him today.

In his dream, Chloe had fallen on him again, but as he stared up at her, she had caught his gaze and then kissed him. It was the softest of kisses and the lightest of touches, but Senel had felt his entire heart explode in his chest.

He only kissed Shirley every now again, on days when he truly felt his love for her, but it was nothing like he had felt in his dream.

He briefly wondered why that was. He loved Shirley, didn't he? His mind told him absolutely almost instantly, but his heart was a little slower to respond. Maybe he didn't love her as much as he thought he did or maybe, just maybe, he didn't love her like he thought he did.

"Senel! We've been invited to eat breakfast with Chloe, Moses and Norma. Are you ready to go?"

"In a minute."

Senel rolled out of bed and went about getting ready to have breakfast with his make-shift family. He wondered where Will, their resident father figure, was this morning and thought better of it quickly.

His and Grune's relationship would take some getting used to but, hey, if Will liked it, Senel loved it and was genuinely happy for the man. Now that he thought about it, there was something definitely happening between Moses and Norma too; mainly because the two had become almost inseparable lately. He figured Moses, a man he cared for like the brother he never had, would spill the beans eventually, but for now Senel would play along.

He ran a brush through his snow white hair and stared back at the green-eyed reflection in the mirror. He was satisfied since it had only taken him about twenty minutes to do all he needed to get ready.

"Okay, we can go now." Senel told Shirley, holding the door open for her. She giggled and ruffled his hair a little as she stepped out of the front door, causing a smile to light Senel's face.

Maybe he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

**At The Restaurant**

The cafe was one of the best around. Chloe loved how they changed the menu every week, and tried to give the guests a taste of whatever happened to be fresh or in season. There were of course, the town favorites, the most popular being the Mermaid's Melodious breakfast and the Taskforce apple turnover.

Norma, however, hated the names of the different menu items, muttering something about how corny it was and asking out loud if the BB's had any say in the matter. Chloe laughed and drank her coffee, noticing the way Moses kept glancing at Norma out of the corner of his eye.

Chloe decided it was time to ask about it.

"So how are you guys this morning?"

"Oh fine! I was so happy when you asked us to eat with you!" Norma said, sipping her apple juice with a wide smile. Moses nodded and drank his coffee after he dumped about six packets of sugar in it, followed by a lot of cream and some half and half.

Chloe resisted the urge to turn up her nose at how sweet that coffee must be.

"I was just in the mood for breakfast. And Moses, how are your men doing today?"

"I left 'em doin' stretches cause they're gettin' lazy. Those boys are actin' like we're on vacation or somethin'."

"Oh don't I know it! The Task Force soldiers are so lazy, when we got back Senel about killed them with training."

" 'Ow are your men holdin' up?"

"They'll be fine, I'm sure." Chloe smiled, and looked between the two, feeling that now was the time to deliver her inquiry, "And how long have you two been seeing each other again?"

"Since we went to Gador-! Hey! That's no fair! You can't just slip that in like that!" Norma was blushing furiously and Moses was about as red as his hair.

"Well, I don't mean to pry, but it didn't seem like you would never tell me. I'm happy for you two, really."

" E're happy for you too, Chloe, seein' as 'ow you're gonna marry Mr. Big Shot."

"Oh, there are hardly any congratulations due, Moses, since I'm not-"

Chloe gave a start as "Mr. Big Shot" walked right through the front door of the restaurant. She wondered who told him about their family breakfast. Alec sat down next to Chloe and kissed her cheek gingerly, grinning wide at her.

"Good morning, my lovely bride-to-be. Shirley told me you guys were having breakfast here and invited me, I hope no one mind's." Alec's calm grey-eyed gaze looked over the three sitting at the table and they all nodded. No one minded that Alec was there.

Well, not seriously minded anyway. Moses was a bit miffed but only because Alec was so show-offy in his affection for Chloe. It wasn't so much that it bothered him that the man showed how much he cared for his sister, it was the fact that he did all of this when Chloe wasn't that type of person. Chloe was a very private woman, and thus all these public displays were unnecessary to her.

Moses knew that even if Chloe never said anything.

"I'm sorry I didn't ask you when you came by the hospital this morning. I thought you'd be busy planning the party tonight." Chloe said softly, as if she really did feel bad.

"Oh, all of that was finished a while ago." Alec assured her, hailing a waitress. She was young and pretty, and as soon as she saw Alec, her eyelashes went to fluttering like butterfly wings. It looked pretty painful from Norma's perspective.

"What a little hussy!" Norma fumed, glaring at the girl's back when she walked away. She couldn't believe she was flirting with Chloe's fiancée so shamelessly!

"Norma, that's not nice!" Chloe told her, trying to calm the girl down. Really, Chloe didn't see any need to be jealous at all. Alec may claim her, but Chloe wasn't going to say anything unless asked directly.

"She's right, I wasn't paying any attention to her anyways. I have Chloe. I don't need anyone else." Alec told Norma, putting his arm around Chloe and hugging her to him.

It appeared the girl had heard him because from Chloe's position at the table, the girl's hair had deflated a little bit. It made a small smile touch Chloe's face.

"So what are your plans for your party, Alec?" Norma looked excitedly curious as she spoke, always happy to talk about a party.

"It's a secret. You haven't seen the house yet, have you?"

"Are you kidding? You have that place locked up like Fort Knox!"

Everyone at the table looked at Norma quizzically, all asking the same question: What the heck was Fort Knox? Norma just shook her head, "Haha, never mind guys, never mind. Hey look, its Senny and Shirl!"

Sure enough, Senel and Shirley walked through the door and made their way over to the table. The second Senel saw Alec, he bristled up immediately, not wanting to see the cause of his fight with Chloe.

"Hey you two." Alec said, waving at the two of them. Senel gave him a cool nod while Shirley gave a cheerful hello and the two sat down.

"So Teach and G-Girl won't be coming today?"

"No, they were busy helping Grune find something to wear to the party today. I was a little surprised, but Harriet insisted that she wear something wonderful." Chloe answered, looking at Senel over the rim of her cup when he sat down at the table across from her.

Senel's mind reeled as he met her gaze: Chloe's fruity smell was all around him once again and it was as if the two of them were back on that hill. Senel returned her gaze steadily, but not a word was spoken between them.

There was no need, really. The apology was there.

"That won't be hard for G-Girl, she looks amazing already!" Norma said happily.

"Is everyone here now? Are you guys ready to order?" A new waitress had come to the table and everyone nodded eagerly.

**That Evening**

"Chloe, be still! Geez, why do you fight me so much when I do your hair and make-up? We only have five hours to be ready and you aren't helping it go any faster!"

Norma was getting irritated with Chloe and Chloe had to say the same about her boisterous friend. They were getting ready for Alec's party and since Chloe was engaged to the host, Norma decided she needed to look absolutely fantastic.

"I just don't see what the fuss is. I could just go in my normal clothes. All this pomp and circumstance really isn't necessary."

Norma saw this as a chance to test her new theory. She didn't want Chloe to marry Alec if she didn't like him, but Chloe was too nice; she'd never tell him no.

"Chloe, if you marry Alec, you're going to have to get used to this. You're marrying a noble from Gadoria. He's going to be throwing parties year-round, either here on the Legacy or back in Gadoria." Norma said her words quietly, but the silence told her everything she needed to know. Chloe's mind was churning her words over and over like butter.

"But look at it this way, you get beautiful dresses and outfits and you get to have lavish dinners and parties! You'll live like a total princess!"

Chloe's silence was teetering on the line of deafening.

"Anyways, face me so we can do your make-up and the front of your hair. And stop that stoic face, your fiancée is super-popular and rich!"

Chloe tried to force a small smile on her face but Norma couldn't be fooled. She knew Chloe was unhappy about this turn of events.

**At Will's House**

"I don't see what all the pomp is, Will. So what if he's a noble? If he was only coming here to party, he should've stayed in Gadoria!"

Will chuckled, hoping Senel didn't hear him over his rant. Will had noticed Senel's foul temper lately and knew it could only be one thing.

Senel was green with a jealousy that rivaled his lively, emerald colored eyes.

Of course Senel didn't know that and really, he had no right to be jealous in the first place. It wasn't fair for poor Chloe, who wasn't already with someone (like Senel was) and it wasn't fair to Shirley either.

"He's only throwing this party to smooth relations with Gadoria and the Legacy. Think of the politics behind his move here. I think you're being a bit petty, Senel."

"And you shouldn't talk about Chloe's fiancée either. He didn't do anything to you, you know," Harriet added, walking into the living room with a book in hand. She too knew the reason why Senel was getting so angry, but knew he had no idea himself.

It was stupid, really.

"He's not her fiancé! He just came over here and bought his way into the Task Force and then he-"

Will held his hand up, cutting Senel off, "No, he didn't buy his way in, he suggested it since it would increase the trust of the people on the Legacy and also in Gadoria. It's simple politics, Senel."

"And then he kissed Chloe right there in front of-!"

Harriet cleared her throat suddenly, causing Senel to cut himself off as he looked at her. She pointed in the direction of her bedroom, where Grune and Shirley were stepping into the living room in their dresses for the evening. Grune's dress was a lovely, forest green color and trailed almost to the floor in a shimmery material. Shirley sported a red and white polka dotted dress with a fluffy petticoat underneath and short, white gloves covering her hands. Her hair was done up in a sweeping up-do, and she wore a little make-up.

The best word to describe her was adorable.

"Wow, Shirley, you look great!" Senel said, smiling at her as she walked over and took his arm.

"Well thank you, Senel. You look well too!" Shirley said with a giggle. Grune smiled in her dazed, slightly out-of-it way and took Will's arm too.

Harriet waved at the group as they stepped toward the door, "I won't wait up!"

**At The Party**

As Chloe rode up to Alec's new home in a carriage he had built (yes, built) specifically for her, along with Norma and Moses, she couldn't help but gasp at the sight as they neared the park where Moses and his men camped.

"It's gone!"

Chloe turned to look at Norma, curiously, who was pointing at the elegant building they were heading towards.

"What's gone?" Chloe asked, wondering what Norma was talking about.

"There was an enclosure all around here, the walls were about ten feet high! He made sure that no one could see what he was building. All you could see was that clock tower on top. See? That one there."

Chloe turned her gaze onto a huge clock, facing the newly built road towards Alec's house. The clock was attached to what could only be described as a tower and it poked out of the building as if it didn't want to be attached to the house but was forced to.

The place was huge. Beyond huge, almost. The castle (this was the only word Chloe could think to use), had about twenty windows facing the street and several more winding around the building. There were patios on the first and third floor, with three or four of the windows on each floor creating balconies.

As the carriage pulled closer towards the building, a circular driveway with a Legacy shaped fountain smack-dab in the middle ushered the group through huge, iron gates. The flags of the Legacy and the country of Gadoria flew freely from the top of the gate and the pale yellow brick of the castle glittered in the moonlight. There were lights, several spotlights, moving from left to right along the castle walls as if searching for a runaway criminal.

The roof was simple and flat, as if built for another purpose. The whole town and then some was walking on foot into the huge, oaken front doors, reminding Chloe of a cathedral.

"Wow."

For once, Chloe had more words to say than Norma. She and Moses sat speechless as they slowly got out of the carriage and saw the thing up close.

"Somebody went all out," Will said loudly as he stepped up behind Chloe and the others. Norma shook her head swiftly, shaking the stupefied look off her face and grinned widely at Will and Grune.

"This is your second date isn't it, Teach?"

"I dare say, it's only your first, isn't it Norma?"

Norma blushed beet red and Moses just laughed loudly, thinking it was just what she got.

"Where's Jay?" Senel asked, looking over their group. He knew Jay wasn't the earliest riser, which was why he had excused his presence at breakfast. But to miss Alec's "engagement" party-? What was his "little brother" thinking? Chloe would probably be upset that he had missed.

As Senel turned to look at her, he noticed that she didn't look sad at all. Or maybe she did, but he was too busy staring at her clothes to even notice her facial expression at the moment.

"Oh, he went back to his village for the day. He should be back by tomorrow." Chloe said, a thoughtful look on her face as she tried to repeat Jay's words exactly as he had told her.

Senel nodded, still staring at Chloe without even realizing. Chloe's dress was a slate grey color and stopped right at her knees. The top of the dress was all criss-crossed straps, revealing an oval-shaped opening in the back of the dress. At the bottom hem, a split came up to reveal the back of Chloe's lower thigh. She held a matching clutch purse in her hand and the heels she wore matched the dress.

The only word ringing in Senel's head was drop-dead gorgeous.

"Oh, you're here!"

The group turned to see Alec coming forward in a coal-colored form fitting suit. He spread his hands wide and spoke loudly, including everyone in his sentence, "Welcome to my home, everyone! I'm so glad you could come! The party just started!"

As Alec ushered his fiancée and her friends into his party, he clapped Senel on the back eagerly, "I think someone will feel like a very lucky man by the end of the night."

Senel seethed. What the hell was Alec talking about? It sounded like Alec was implying something...dirty.

"You don't know anything." Senel glowered darkly at Alec and stalked off angrily, grabbing Shirley on his way off. The others watched him go, no one knowing what to say to him.

Alec clearly looked confused at Senel's response and turned to Chloe, "Was it something I said?"

Norma was a little pissed too, since she had heard Alec and took it the exact same way as Senel. Even Moses had heard but he definitely didn't get what had made Senel mad.

"Well, I don't know maybe it's because you suggested Senny would do something bad?" Norma fought the urge to glare at Alec, who looked even more confused.

"I said something...dishonorable? That wasn't my intention, I promise you. I-I'm sorry, I didn't even realize-" Alec flushed, as he looked down at his feet. His grey eyes took on a very embarrassed look.

"You aren't the only one who didn't realize." Will stated calmly, grabbing a hold of Norma's ear. He tugged her towards him, hearing her protest as he did so. "Stop putting ideas into people's heads."

"But-! But-!"

WHAM!

"OUCH! Hey! It was Senny's idea first! Go hit him!"

Moses laughed at Norma's plight once again and the awkwardness between the group melted away again.

"Anyways, come, let's enjoy ourselves!" Alec took hold of Chloe's hand and lead her around the room, greeting his guests individually. The rest of the group made their way over to the refreshment table, getting some punch and "checking the scene".

"C looks like she's getting her teeth pulled," Norma commented, after a while. Moses nodded as Will and Grune looked over in the direction of the couple.

"She looks like she's not having any fun at all!" Grune added, almost woefully.

"But Alec, on the other hand, is thriving." Will replied, watching the couple move through the crowd.

"No keaddin'! Look at him gow!" Moses was surprised to see how depressed Chloe was looking as each minute passed. She looked like all the energy was slowly being drained from her.

"What should we do, Teach?" Norma was looking down into her glass of punch, but the worry was clear in her voice to all those around her.

"Chloe's a grown woman, Norma. We shouldn't do anything. Or say anything."

"But-!"

Will delivered a gentle tap to Norma's noggin, "She has to make that choice on her own. Chloe can stand up for herself if she wants to. The question is...is that what she wants?"

"It should be." No one turned as Senel stepped up to them and no one asked where Shirley had run off to. She was probably dancing with someone, since Senel didn't care to dance that much.

"Who are we to decide what she wants, Senel?" Will asked, knowing Senel had no answer. His extended silence only proved it further.

"We are...She's my best friend." Senel said finally, watching as Chloe walked around with Alec. She was just allowing him to pull her along, speaking to her soldiers and their families when she saw them.

The only time Senel could see a genuine smile on her face was when she spoke with the Task Force members.

"Are you sure that's all she is to you, Senny?" Norma asked softly. She talked so quietly, for a second, Senel thought he was simply hearing things.

"Norma, what're you talking about?"

"I mean, it's obvious-!" Norma was cut off by Moses' hand, as he covered her mouth and abruptly shut her up.

Will sighed, but it was a sigh of relief, "What Norma means, is that we've all noticed you've been really angry lately. We just hope that it's merely out of fear for Chloe's safety."

"Well, of course. What else would it be?"

The entire group - Grune included - heaved a loud sigh as if they were one body breathing as one. Norma shook her head and took Moses' hand, walking away from their gathering with a flustered look on her face.

Will and Grune remained, sipping punch and talking softly to one another. Senel stood, still watching Chloe and Alec, feeling the anger itch at the back of his heart.

"I wish I knew why I hated him so much..." Senel whispered to himself, as he turned to find out where Shirley had run off to.

**An Hour Later**

"Attention everyone! The best part of the party is about to begin!" Alec bellowed out, leading himself and Chloe up to the wide staircase, leading to the other floors of the castle. Everyone began to quiet down until the room was silent, waiting for Alec to begin.

"First off, I want to thank you all for coming. It warms my heart to receive such a reception during my first week on the Legacy. I want to introduce you all to someone you know and love, my fiancée, Chloe Valens!"

Thunderous applause erupted throughout the large room, causing Chloe to smile slightly as a bit of red flushed her cheeks.

"I wanted you all to be here to see Chloe get her official engagement ring from me. So, here, Chloe," Alec leaned down on one knee and slipped the ring on her finger. It was a Princess-cut 50-carat amethyst jewel, sitting between two 25-carat topaz gems. The ring was huge and left several women in the room drooling after it.

"W-wow. I don't know what to say." Chloe stuttered, as she looked down at the huge ring weighing down her finger. She definitely couldn't fight with this thing on.

"Oh, darling, you're response was great enough for me!" Alec told her, though loudly, as he leaned over and kissed her cheek. The crowd "Awwwed" as Alec pulled Chloe flush against him.

"Next, I want to call Task Force Commander Senel Coolidge up here. Senel?"

The crowd was searching everywhere for the pale haired commander, who was very shocked to hear his name called. He had been sitting in a chair against the wall, sipping more punch and watching Alec make a fool of himself. But upon hearing his name called, he got up and made his way through the crowd, up to the stairs were Chloe and Alec were standing.

"Earlier, I told you that you would be a really lucky man by the end of tonight. I meant what I said," before Senel could open his mouth to protest Alec continued, "I am giving this entire estate to the Task Force to assist in the deployment and training of our members. I think that the Task Force should spread to protect other cities too, not just the one we live in. I've spoken with some very prominent people on the Legacy and they all agree with me."

Alec's smile grew wide as Senel's eyes widened to the size of saucers, "No one could recommend a better commander for this growing army than you, Senel Coolidge. Congratulations. You just became the leader of the Legacy's entire military."

Even Chloe was shocked. Alec hadn't mentioned any of this to her, at all. She watched Senel carefully, wondering if he wanted all this responsibility. She was sure that he didn't mind it all that much, because he wouldn't have to deal with very many things since he was at the top already.

But the Task Force becoming the Legacy's military force? There was so much work to be done and they didn't even know this change was being made until today!

Will stood among the crowd, his mind going eighty miles a minute. Something was super fishy with this. Sure, he knew about the talks with the Legacy's higher-ups. He had attended a handful of them, with all parties pleased with the results. He just had no idea that it would happen so soon and with Alec fueling the fire.

How could a noble from Gadoria get so much done on the Legacy in just a week?

And Will wasn't the only one asking questions. As soon as the "honor" was given to Senel, he was even more iffy about Alec than anything else. Why was he doing all of this? Why did he want Senel at the head of a fledgling military force?

After Alec thanked his guests and offered tours for anyone who wanted to see, the crowd was all abuzz with the news. Chloe bowed out from having to stay with Alec anymore and headed towards the outer deck. As she stepped towards the glass doors, she looked pointedly at Senel who nodded and followed her out.

The cool night air felt good against Chloe's face. That room had been so hot with all of those people packed in there. Once they made this place the new Task Force HQ, she was sure there wouldn't ever be this many people in the building at once. The moonlight was just as bright as it had been last night at the hill with Senel. Chloe shivered as the thought came to her mind, from embarrassment, the wind or something else, she wasn't sure.

"Chloe, did Alec tell you any of this?" Senel asked as soon as he had shut the glass doors behind him. He gave a pause as his gaze landed on Chloe. Tonight, the moonlight shone down on Chloe as if it were her own personal spotlight.

She was even more beautiful as she leaned against the stone railing, the wind playing in her hair gently and wafting her strawberry scent into Senel's nose. He stood silent for a moment, wondering why his heart was beginning to pound exactly like it did yesterday.

"No, Coolidge, I swear. He hadn't told me any of this at all. I found out when you did."

Senel nodded, finally moving to stand beside Chloe and lean against the railing. He had an odd sense of déjà-vu, liked he had stood against a railing with Chloe before.

"But why? Why give all of this to me, when he could have it himself? The Marines know they can't control me, why not let this noble do it all?"

"Because Alec is from Gadoria." Chloe stated this as if she was completely and utterly sure of the fact.

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"Coolidge, with this new military power we have, what keeps us from waging war with other countries? If we go to war with... perhaps Gadoria, then a head commander from Gadoria isn't who they want controlling their army."

"But why me?"

"Senel, I wish I knew." There she went again. Senel shivered as Chloe said his name. It felt so weird to hear it coming from her rose-petal lips, but the fact she had used his name told him how worried she was.

"Do you trust Alec?"

The answer came slowly, softly and in almost a whisper, "I hope I can."

Senel didn't like that answer at all. The anger he felt earlier flared up and grew into an undeniable hatred towards Alec. Not only was he doing things that obviously made Chloe uncomfortable; now, he was making her worry!

"Damn him! I have half a mind to go in there right now and-!"

"Be still, Coolidge." Senel resisted the urge to sigh. Apparently she had realized the name slip-up and returned to her normal address, "We are groping in the dark here. And I'm sure Will and the others...Well, at least Will, anyways, has the same mind frame as we do."

"But how can I be still when it's obvious that something is up?"

"Because, Senel," Chloe's face lit-up in what Senel could only describe as a very knowing grin, "The early bird always catches a worm, right?"

Senel laughed, but shook his head at the phrase, "What does that even mean? Geez!" Still, he couldn't help but laughing. For now, Senel decided not to get too angry. Hell, he had just gotten the best promotion he could ever wish for!

End Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

My Heart Tells No Tales

By: Sailorjj07

7. Sick Day

A/n: I really am planning on putting this thing out of its misery as soon as possible. I really am disappointed in myself for not updating like I should or writing it like I should, but I still have feelings for this fic; enough to keep it from deletion anyway. I plan on expanding my horizons this year, though, and writing in other areas like Naruto and Assassin's Creed. Keep an eye out for those fics! Anyway, this chappy will be a bit of random fluff to hold you over.

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

Actions

(Me!)

Disclaimer: I do not own!

Chloe watched the troops practice their marches in the new training fields with a sigh. The move from the old headquarters to this specially built haven wasn't so much physically tiring as it was stressful. None of the soldiers had much issue with the barracks being moved into the fortress that Alec had built for the Task Force; no, the problems were with the higher ups, like Will and Her Majesty.

The woman didn't trust Alec's moves for a second, but she commended Senel on taking his place of power amongst the change. Will, himself, voiced his concerns for the endeavor, but he too was happy for Senel. In their eyes, Senel would make the best and most ethical decisions, regardless of how anyone felt. His amazing judge of character and his merit had made a name for him in the hearts of the people on The Legacy and it seemed he would do his best to live up to their standards.

Speaking of Senel, Chloe glanced around, expecting to see the Commander in Chief observing the group of new recruits as well. She realized briefly that she hadn't seen him for a while now and made up her mind to search for him.

Chloe walked down the huge staircase, wondering who she should ask about Senel's whereabouts and decided that she should probably ask Norma, the new secretary of the Task Force. Lord knows Alec was going bananas when he gave her that job! Chloe sighed again and made her way towards Norma's desk at the entry way.

"Hey Norma."

"What's up, C? Man, am I glad to see you!" Norma smiled her usual cheerful smile and Chloe couldn't help but smile back. Norma was infectious like that.

"Really? Whatever is the matter?"

"Well, you see, Senel said he wasn't feeling well and headed up to his room to lie down. Shirley went out of town to go check on some of the Ferenes; you know, for her bi-weekly visits."

Chloe nodded her head in understanding. It was Shirley's job as a Ferenes to help others like herself, especially being as prominent a Ferenes as she was. Chloe realized she was ignoring Norma and turned her attention back to the brunette.

"-So can you check on him?"

"Huh?"

"I said, since Shirley isn't here and you've been living in a hospital, can you check on Senny and make sure he's okay? I really haven't heard anything from him, but I'm much too busy here to even leave. I'm already interviewing for assistants!" Norma waved her hands in the air as if the whole world was hectic and falling apart and Chloe couldn't resist rolling her eyes. There were a total of three people in the lobby currently and two of them were she and Norma.

"Of course I'll go check on him. I hope he's okay." Chloe gave a small wave to Norma and wondered if she really heard her chuckle as she walked off.

**With Senel**

He was dizzy. And his head hurt like someone had smashed a rock on his skull. The room was spinning and he was so hot - too hot for a person sitting in an air conditioned room. Senel had no idea what had come over him, but he knew one thing for sure.

He was not well. At all.

Senel tried to get up from the chair and failed a third time. He briefly heard himself groan out loud, but the noise sounded so far away, he wasn't quite sure if it came from himself.

"Uggggghhhh..."

Senel leaned his head up against the wall. How had he gotten sick? He didn't remember doing anything stupid like standing in wind after a shower. He wasn't sure what had brought on his sudden illness, but it sucked.

There was a soft knock on his door, followed by a soft call of "Coolidge?"

Senel tried to answer Chloe, but all he could get out was another soft moan.

"Coolidge, are you okay?"

He realized she probably wouldn't hear him; to him, his voice sounded like a whisper, "C-Chloe..." Senel forced his mind to clear and once again strained to get out of the chair. He released a huge breath of triumph as he stood on his own two feet, although shakily. "Ch-loe... I'm..."

"Senel?"

Senel felt his heart skip a beat at hearing his name called, but the excitement was too much for him. He fell to his knees on the floor and tried to call out once again. His head was swimming - it felt so heavy; he could hardly hold it up.

The doorknob started turning and an extremely concerned Chloe burst into the room.

"Senel? Senel? What's wrong?" Chloe kneeled down beside him and Senel leaned his head against her shoulder, trying to calm his pounding heart.

"I...I'm not sure. I think...I think I'm s-sick, Chloe."

"Sick?! But how?"

Senel's eyes slid shut as he leaned harder against Chloe's body. Chloe found herself fighting the most ridiculous blush on her cheeks, as she put her arms around Senel to help hold him in place.

"Dunno." Was all the sick man managed to get out.

Chloe turned Senel's body towards her's and leaned her head forward. Senel's felt his heart pound even faster, though his brain couldn't figure out if it was from sickness or Chloe's closeness.

Chloe's blush was spreading and fast, but she needed to be sure of how sick Senel actually was. She leaned their foreheads together, and tried not to swoon from the close contact. Even ill, Senel still smelled like a strong, pure river and fresh air. Chloe shook her head and forced her thoughts on the task at hand.

"When did you start feeling sick, Coolidge?"

Senel's eyes slid open and he glared at her, almost severely, before shaking his head and sealing his mouth shut.

"Coolidge? Does it hurt to talk?"

Senel shook his head, but his mouth stayed closed.

"What? Senel, I need you to talk to me. I can't help you if-"

"I started feeling odd...this morning. My head...hurt." Senel answered, leaning against Chloe's shoulder again. Chloe helped him stand up and lead him to his bed. They walked slowly and though the distance was short it seemed like a mile run for Senel.

He was practically gasping for breath by the time the two of them managed to get to the edge of the bed. Chloe stepped forward to help Senel into bed and instead, tripped over his foot, sending the two of them crashing onto the bed.

Senel let out a puff of air as his back hit the bed, and he relaxed almost instantly; laying down felt so good. It definitely didn't register to him that only half his body was in the bed because his mind was assault with Chloe's specific fragrance.

"Oh, Senel, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I-"

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Senel gently covered Chloe's mouth with his index finger, shaking his head. Chloe watched the hazy look on his face, and found her worry spike even more. Senel would never keep her this close if he was conscious! "Don worry 'bout it."

To better prove his point, Senel wrapped his arms around Chloe and held her there, with their bodies laying half on, half off the bed.

"Ummmm, S-Senel?"

"I'm gonna take a nap now, kay? Be a good girl and stay put." Senel smiled lazily at Chloe, reaching his hand up to stroke her raven hair softly. "Night"

"B-But Senel-! Can we at least lie on the bed properly? I am afraid you will have b-back pro- Whoa!"

Senel pulled himself and Chloe up on the bed fully, that lazy smile still on his face, "Better?"

"Y-Yes?" Chloe didn't know if she could feel any better; she was laying in Senel's arms. He was so close; she could practically kiss him right then and there.

"Good." Senel snuggled closer to Chloe and gave a sigh of relief; she was so warm and comfortable. Girls were so soft and squishy! Chloe gave a loud sigh herself, but it definitely wasn't from the comfort of the situation.

How in the hell was she supposed to get out of this?

**Later**

Senel woke up to complete darkness in his room. He could hear the distant sound of voices outside of his bedroom door, but there was no one else in the room. He looked around as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. Wasn't it bright outside when he came here to take his break?

Senel looked to the clock beside him and confirmed what he had been thinking. He had slept almost the entire day away. He tried to remember what had happened after he came back to his room to sit and rest for a little while, but his mind drew a complete blank. How had he ended up in his bed?

A knock on the door broke his thoughts, and Shirley popped her head through Senel's door. She turned the light on, then reached behind her and grabbed a tray with a delectable dinner on it.

"Well, good morning, sleepyhead." Shirley closed the door with her hip and walked over to Senel's bed, while he watched her in confusion.

"Shirley?"

"Here, let me help you sit up." Shirley readjusted all the pillows behind Senel, making sure they provided support when he sat up. When she was finished, she set the tray on his lap and lifted the lid.

On the tray sat a deep dish of beef stew, a still-warm hunk of bread and a cup of ginger ale. Senel wasted no time digging in, as if he had just realized how very hungry he was.

"Shirley, have you been here the entire time?" Senel asked her between bites. He had dreamed of a beautiful red and green strawberry field as far as the eye could see. When he looked up, a clear blue sky greeted him cheerfully. When he finally lowered his gaze again, a familiar figure stood surrounded by the plants, wearing a lovely red and white polka dotted dress and a straw hat. She looked up from what she was doing, her raven hair fluttering in the wind. She smiled at him and cupped her mouth, parting her lips to say-

"Senel! Did you hear what I said?"

Senel blinked as he came back to reality, turning to face Shirley once again, "Say what?"

"I said I got here right before dinner. I got in just as Chloe was leaving."

"C-Chloe?" Senel frowned at the tray on his lap as he tried to remember seeing Chloe at all today. He remembered not leaving his room this morning, and managing to make it to the chair over by the wall...

"I told her to go eat dinner since she had been in here with you all day. I'm sure she'll head home after that."

He knew Chloe didn't stay inside the newly built fortress like he did. She hadn't wanted to leave her room in the hospital.

Senel moved the tray, feeling a little better with some food in his stomach. He slid out of the bed, surprising Shirley by his attire.

"S-Senel-!" Shirley stammered, her cheeks flaring pink as she tore her gaze to the ground. Senel looked down and realized he was only wearing his navy blue shorts and matching undershirt. He blinked for a second before shaking his head and strolling out of the room.

**With Chloe**

Chloe flicked off the lights in her office and locked the door with her shiny new key. Her boots clacked faintly on the shiny floor as she walked down the empty hallway. Most of the Task Force fighters had gone to bed in their brand new barracks, and most of the higher ups had either gone to their own deluxe rooms or back to their homes.

"Well, I guess I'll go home too."

She walked down the empty corridors, seeing one of her other female soldiers occasionally. They were giggling and in their pajamas and each girl grinned at Chloe as she walked past.

"Have a good evening, Vice-Captain!" They called, as Chloe made her way down the hall.

"Good night, ladies." She replied, giving her subordinates a small wave.

After walking past Norma's desk, Chloe finally made it out of the building. She sighed; why did Alec build such a huge structure?

"C-Chloe! Chloe!"

She turned from her spot on the courtyard stairs and found Senel running towards her, with next to nothing on. Chloe found herself attempting to school her features; she really didn't want Senel to see her blush...but it was hard to hide the rapid beating of her heart.

"Coolidge? What are you doing?"

Senel finally stopped at the top step, breathing deeply. He realized, a little too late, that he hadn't fully recovered. Chloe hurried up the steps, seeing the flushed look on Senel's face. He definitely hadn't recovered.

He swayed slightly, still gasping for air when Chloe reached the final step, wrapping her arms around him to keep him steady. Senel leaned his forehead against her's, and Chloe found herself staring directly in his jade colored eyes.

"S-Senel..." The name slipped out of her mouth, involuntarily. A lazy smile crossed Senel's face as Chloe realized he was still somewhat feverish.

"I came to say thank you." Senel pulled her closer, embracing Chloe in a hug that surprised her even more. Senel absolutely had to still be sick. Or simply out of his mind.

"W-What?"

"Shirley told me that you took care of me all day today."

"Mm-hm."

"So you won't admit to it?"

Chloe gave a small, nervous laugh, "A knight never asks for thanks."

Senel released a deep sigh, and Chloe could feel the weirdest sensation creep up her spine. The puff of air hit right at the edge of her neck and despite herself, Chloe shivered. Senel's eyes took on the weirdest glint, one that Chloe couldn't - or wouldn't - figure out.

"Senel, I think you should go back inside. You'll freeze to death out here."

Senel was silent as he bit on his bottom lip softly, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. Chloe's mind was reeling as she waited for him to answer her; he was just too close!

"Only if you promise something first."

"W-what is that?"

"I'm sick, you know? So you have to promise first."

"But it's hard for me to-" Senel finally stepped away from Chloe, frowning up at her. His cheeks had a reddish tint to it and Chloe couldn't tell if it was from the wind, his fever, or both.

"Promise, Chloe. I won't go back inside until you do. Are you really going to let a sick guy stand out in the cold?"

"F-Fine. You have my word...as a knight."

Senel nodded, finally appeased, "Call me Senel from today onwards."

Chloe's eyes widened considerably at his request and she immediately averted her gaze to the ground, in an effort to keep her surprise hidden. Had it really been bothering him this whole time?

"I just don't understand how we're the best of friends and you don't call me by my name. What is with that?"

Chloe remained silent though occasionally, she peeked up from her hard stare at the ground.

"Well, I guess I'll go back inside now. I really feel very tired all of a sudden." Senel patted Chloe on the head cheerfully, feeling a bit better now that she had promised to call him by his first name. And really, if anyone deserved to speak his name out loud, it was Chloe. She was his closest and dearest friend...

Chloe grabbed hold of his hand and finally looked up. Her chestnut colored eyes were very serious and Senel had no idea what she was thinking. "Will you remember this tomorrow?"

"W-Why would I forget it?"

"Because you're sick. And you sleep like the dead. You will probably think this was all a dream, by tomorrow."

Senel shrugged his expression nonchalant and a bit confident, "So remind me."

Chloe nodded slowly, as if she was already thinking of ways to remind him of all that had happened between them in the span of a few minutes. Senel smiled, glad to give Chloe something to mull over. He would be doing the same thing himself...because of that dream...

Senel shook those thoughts out of his, and placed a hand on Chloe's shoulder. She looked up, obviously torn from her thoughts, "I'll see you tomorrow, Chloe."

She nodded again, her pretty cheeks completely flushed now, "Please get well. Good night."

And they each parted ways, thinking of each other.

**The Next Day**

Chloe walked into her office with a light heart. Yesterday had felt like a dream. She knew that Senel would probably forget the whole thing, since he had been acting so strange. She knew he wasn't so...emotional or playful with Shirley, but then again, Senel had a fever and had been asleep most of the day...

Chloe forced herself to focus on the stack of paper in front of her, when a knock sounded on her door. She stated a simple, "Enter" and a head of white hair appeared in her office.

"Good morning, Chloe." Senel's warm smile went right to her heart, and Chloe found it was infections. Standing up, Chloe smiled and walked over to Senel, immediately checking his temperature to see if his fever was gone.

"It's not there anymore, I promise."

Chloe nodded, finding his words to be true. She removed her hands and put them behind her back, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yep. I dreamt of strawberries." Senel told her, grinning.

Chloe looked at him quizzically, but shook her head. She hardly wanted to know what that meant. "So what are your plans for today, Commander Coolidge?"

Senel lifted an eyebrow, crossing his arms in slight annoyance. Chloe blinked, her surprise written all over her face.

So he had remembered what happened the night before.

Chloe's cheeks colored and she turned to go sit down at her desk. Senel followed her and leaned on the object, watching her curiously.

"You thought I would forget, didn't you?"

"N-No," she stammered and cursed herself for it. What was she so nervous for anyway?

"You promised, Chloe."

"I did."

Senel stared down at her, grabbing her hands as she tried to distract herself from the topic at hand. He didn't like that she wouldn't even look in his face.

"Say it."

Chloe's eyes looked like they were going to pop from her head, and she turned her head so she wouldn't have to face him. Slowly, she shook her head, "I...I can't do it."

"When a knight gives her word, she keeps it, right?"

Chloe nodded, dreading the direction this was going. Senel leaned closer from his position on her desk, angling his head so he could look at her. When his green eyes finally caught her brown ones, he gave her a look of determination before repeating himself, "Say it, Chloe."

"B-But, you're my commander."

"You promised."

Why on Earth was he pestering her so much? Goodness, it wasn't that big of a deal, was it?

"Chloe."

She started down at her desk; anything that would stall this torture. Why was he pressing the issue?

"Chloe."

Boy, did she love the way her name sounded coming from him. He could say her name all day and she wouldn't care.

"Chloe, this is an order."

Chloe froze up, her gaze turning on him in an instant, "An order?" Chloe lifted her eyebrow and it had appeared that those words had struck some cord in her. Chloe stood up, her chair falling over at the suddenness of her movement. She yanked Senel's hand and they were face to face all over again, inches apart. How dare he order her around over something so ridiculous?! Was he trying to insult her?

Brown slammed into green and Senel felt his heart pounding in his throat. So this is what Chloe's angry face looked like. Her whole countenance was a ball of intense energy and Senel found himself almost eager to hear her say the one word he had asked for.

"Senel." Her voice was barely above a whisper, soft and barely contained. Senel had no doubt he had made her mad. He watched her, wondering what would happen next.

"Senel." She said it again, this time with a bit more force, not bothering to mask her irritation and fear.

"Senel." It was like the sweetest mantra he ever heard. His brain shifted in a direction he wasn't sure that he wanted to examine and her skin tight body suit wasn't helping.

"Senel." She said it louder, bolder and he found himself leaning closer towards her, if that was even possible.

"Senel." He felt the air from her words, touching his lips and he realized while staring into her eyes that he really wanted to kiss her.

Badly.

"Senel." She said, again, softly. He wanted to be closer, if that was even possible. There was barely any space between them at all, but right then, the minor gap still felt like too much.

"Chloe." He had answered her, and that one word was each of their undoing. Chloe's eyes were sliding shut, instinctively, and Senel could feel the warmth coming off of her mouth as he closed the small gap that was between them. Chloe held her breath when their lips touched, her insides melting from the gentle caress of his lips.

Senel pressed forward, adding pressure to the kiss as he wrapped one arm around the waist, pressing her legs into the edge of the desk.

**KNOCK KNOCK!**

They broke apart in a hurry and Chloe attempted to set her desk to rights. Her heart was pounding as she set the chair back in its proper place and she could feel her entire body trembling. She collapsed in her chair and tried to calm the wild thumping in her ears, as Senel opened the door.

"It's Jay!" In burst Norma, a panicked look on her face. She was gasping for breath as if she had ran from a far distance and tried to catch her breath as she bent over, holding her stomach. Senel patted her on the back, wondering if either girl could hear the loud and heavy beating of his heart.

"W-What happened, Norma?"

She held out her hand, asking for a moment, before she spoke. When she finally looked up, there were practically tears in her eyes. "Will and Moses went to Jay's place to check on him and make sure he was all right. No one had heard from him in a while, ya know? So they went over there and his house is trashed! Stuff is broken and thrown everywhere!" Senel and Chloe knew something must be very wrong if Norma wasn't using her nicknames for everyone. And Norma wasn't the type to panic either... "Jay is nowhere to be seen. They even found...they found blood!"

Chloe felt her heart stop. Senel stared as if he had been punched in the stomach.

"BLOOD?!"

End Chapter 7


End file.
